Check here for information related to actions that the Community Council is taking to address public safety in our neighborhood
Letters to our elected officials
Portage Bay Roanoke Park Community Council
(www.pbrpcommunitycouncil.org)
July 30, 2020
TO:
Mayor - Jenny Durkan (jenny.durkan@seattle.gov)
Council Member - Kshama Sawant (kshama.sawant@seattle.gov)
WSDOT SR520 Project Manager - Dawn Yankauskas (YankaDR@wsdot.wa.gov)
FROM:
Portage Bay Roanoke Park Community Council & Residents
SUBJECT:
Drug Dealing Under SR520 Bridge, neighborhood thefts & prowling
We know you are consumed by many challenges at this time. We have two public safety matters to bring to your attention and hopefully action.
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Our community is threatened by an active narcotics encampment under 520 between Delmar and Boyer.
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There is a direct relationship between the drug dealing operation and increased thefts and prowling on residential streets and in our yards.
Used needles, bloody wipes and tissues now litter the Bagley Viewpoint. Residents of the encampment and those seeking their product roam freely in our neighborhoods leaving our families and children with fewer safe places to simply walk. SPD has been at the Bagley Viewpoint three times in the past five days, even escorted by concerned nearby residents.
Although there is a constant stream of customers walking to the encampment from the #49 bus stop; SPD says they can’t do anything until they see these folks dealing drugs. Meanwhile the drug dealing at the encampment under SR520 bridge continues to grow and their ‘customers’ invade our yards and porches in search of items to steal.
What follows are real time videos of these escalating incidents:
This person came through this morning just after 8 AM. Nothing else in our cameras for overnight. See what I just shared to Neighbors: https://neighbors.ring.com/n/4GOaWl46Ve
Trespasser attempting to steal bikes.
At 7:30 this morning this person came onto our property, uncovered our bicycles and proceeded to see if they were all locked, then went into our backyard. Caucasian, slender, short red hair, unsure of gender, white t-shirt and capri pants: https://neighbors.ring.com/n/Qlzqr6g3O4
Just last night a neighbor was able to get a trespasser off his porch, while another trespasser was hiding nearby. As you can see, the trespasser was attempting to steal bicycles in broad daylight, and returned three times to remove them; until the neighbor at his own peril confronted the trespasser who then retreated. SPD did take an incident report but could not respond quickly enough to make an arrest.
The drug dealing operation under SR520 on WSDOT property needs to be cleaned up before a violent confrontation between residents and drug dealing campers takes place. We are alarmingly close.
Thank you for your prompt attention.
Portage Bay/Roanoke Park Community Council Board of Directors
and
Portage Bay/Roanoke Park Residents (29 signatures)
Actions we can take
Consider the following actions that you can take to help in keeping our neighborhood safe:
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Look for ways to reduce risks.
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Lighting, cameras, signs can help to deter some theft but not all
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Reach out to a neighbor to pick up a package or keep an eye on your house if you are going to be away
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Secure personal property as best as possible
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Share incidents with your neighbors so that everyone is aware and able to help if needed. Create a text thread with your immediate neighbors and also consider sharing via the community forum.
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File an incident report. For non-emergency situations, file an online crime report.
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Contact elected officials. It can help to follow up on the collective efforts that the Community Council has done to help alert our elected officials of the issues that are going unaddressed in our neighborhood.
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District 3 Council Representative: Kshama Sawant
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Seattle City Council President: Lorena González
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Citywide Council Member: Teresa Mosqueda
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Seattle Mayor: Jenny Durkan
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