Patrols make downtown safer

Extra policing will continue through next year

By SCOTT GUTIERREZ
P-I REPORTER

An infusion of police officers into downtown's central shopping district has decreased 911 calls and chased away many of the thugs and dope dealers who made the area feel unsafe.

Although crime swept out of the area around Pike and Pine streets has apparently moved into neighboring districts, the city is calling its experiment a success and intends to keep extra police on the downtown beat at least through next year.

Most people downtown attest to sharp reductions in loitering, panhandling and street thuggery since the police effort began in summer. And many had hoped the city would maintain the presence next year.

"I think this emphasis patrol in the Pike-Pine corridor is the smartest thing the city and the mayor have done in a very long time," said Lyn Kryzanich, who's lived near the Pike Place Market for 12 years and walks home from her office on Seventh Avenue.

Calls to 911 about illegal drug activity dropped by nearly half around Pike and Pine during the first three months of the Seattle Police Department's emphasis program in the corridor. Extra officers walking the beat were able to see significantly more incidents as they were happening.

The city of Seattle dedicated $500,000 to assign eight extra officers and a sergeant to the downtown stretch between First and Fifth avenues through December. The area includes Westlake Center and Pike Place Market. The effort followed several shootings, including one during rush hour at a busy intersection last summer.

The officers work in shifts between 2 and 10 p.m., when the area bustles with workers, shoppers and tourists. In the hours that extra officers have been out, 911 calls dropped 20 percent, according to the most current data available from late August through October.

Among other successes:

Police arrested 131 felons on warrants, most of them during the extra patrol hours.

Police seized four guns and arrested at least two suspects for illegal possession of firearms.

Two officers posted at Third Avenue and Pike Street on Oct. 3 saw a man choke and rob his girlfriend. They chased him down.

Twice as many pedestrians were stopped for violations.

"I think what we've shown is that you can clear out an area and make it safer and bring its civility back," said Lt. Jim Fitzgerald, who oversees the deployment of the officers from the West Precinct.

The colder weather also contributes to a slowdown in activity, he said. And the intense focus has led to what police call "the toothpaste effect."

"You push it one area and it squirts out somewhere else," Fitzgerald said.

Some of the problems have moved into Belltown. Police also see street corner drug dealers moving farther east on Pike and Pine toward Capitol Hill from where they used to operate, Fitzgerald said.

The East Precinct, which covers Capitol Hill and the Central Area, was the city's only precinct to see sharp spikes in crime during the past few months, Assistant Chief Nick Metz told the City Council's Public Safety Committee in a report Tuesday, although he did not correlate the two issues. The increases included gun-related incidents and car break-ins, he said.

To target newer hot spots downtown, police follow comments and complaints from businesses and residents, and deploy specialized anti-crime teams and bicycle officers, Fitzgerald said.

The Downtown Seattle Association hopes the city will maintain the strong police presence, President Kate Joncas said.

"When the police are out, it's the safe, comfortable, welcoming downtown that we all envision," she said.

A city spokesman told the Seattle P-I on Friday that the city intends to keep the emphasis patrol operating at least through next year, by adjusting deployments and budgeting another $523,000.

The extra officers are on foot, enabling them to blend in with crowds and monitor sidewalks and intersections, better equipping them to see and hear what officers in a patrol car might miss, Fitzgerald said. Officers also are directed to interact with citizens and ask transients if they need help getting services, he said.

"So many people come up to us and say, 'Thank you for being here,' " said Sgt. George Bray, one of several officers volunteering for the overtime shifts to maintain the larger patrols.

The city also invested $100,000 to refurbish bus stops along Third Avenue. The city is removing bus shelters and installing new garbage cans, along with planters.

Paul Etsekson, who owns the Kress Building at Third Avenue and Pike Street, has noticed improvements, but he's frustrated with how long it took the city to confront the problem.

"From Pike Street to Pike Place Market is the welcome mat to our city. It's your first impression and to get that wrong is a terrible mistake you're making," Etsekson said.

presence