Report from the Crime Prevention Public Meeting June 16

Seattle Police representative Barbara Biondo gave a presentation on crime prevention last Wednesday at a zoom ECC public meeting. Eastlake’s city council member, Alex Pedersen, also attended. Ms. Biondo gave an overview of personal safety tips, best practices for calling 911, Eastlake crime trends, and community-based crime prevention, such as neighborhood watch. Here are some of the highlights:

Personal Safety: The Basics

Be aware of your surroundings
Walk with purpose. Make eye contact with others
Walk in the middle of the sidewalk, away from doorways & parked cars
Use common sense, stick to busy, well-lit streets, walk facing traffic
Bring a buddy or request a security escort
Know landmarks/streets. Have a general sense of your direction of travel
If you something doesn’t look or feel right – Act! Leave; Cross the Street; Get to a Safe Location; Call 911
Report suspicious activity. Be a good witness

Calling 911

Call from a safe location (You can text 911 if you are not able to call)
Why are you calling? ➢ Explain what is happening and why police are needed
Where are you? ➢ Street, hundred block, nearby business or nearest light pole #
Who is involved? ➢ Description of suspect ➢ Description of victim ➢ Your description – if you are waiting for officers on foot
Weapons? ➢ Were any weapons involved?
Call 911 back with updates or if you need to cancel

Eastlake Crime Trends

You can view Eastlake crime statistics on the Crime Dashboard. Hover over and click on Eastlake, which is in the center of the map. Reported crimes for Eastlake are low compared to the rest of the city.

Ms. Biondo stressed the need to report crime if you are a victim:

SPD is a Data driven agency – they look at crime data regularly to identify trends and direct resources.
Filing a report gives police the opportunity to investigate criminal activity; and
Reporting when you are a victim of crime aids police and elected officials in allocating resources to address public safety issues and helps assure discussions and decisions made on public safety are based on an accurate reflection of crime levels and locations.

Please remember to call 9-1-1 for emergencies or to report a crime in progress.

For other matters you can call the Seattle Police non-emergency number at 206-625-5011. You can also file many crime reports online. For more information go to SPD Online Crime Reporting.

If you’re wondering about any police activity near you, see the Seattle Police Department Data Maps, which track calls within the last 24 hours (after they’re safely closed) and for the past seven days.

Block Watch

A lot of folks in Eastlake already do an informal block watch just by knowing who their neighbors are and watching their house for them when they are out of town. By contacting Ms. Biondo, she can introduce you to other groups of neighbors who also watch out for one another, creating a larger network of eyes on the street, sharing email and phone numbers. Check out the Seattle Police Block Watch website for more details.