Many hands make light work, and many eyes make safer
communities. Queen Anne has had block watches spread around the neighborhood
for decades, but now an effort is underway to band together to create a
communication and resource network greater than the sum of its parts.
Amy Carlson has lived in Queen Anne for 35 years, and back
then her block watch simply covered a square block. Then neighbors to the east
and south wanted to join, and the block watch grew. One day she met Patricia
Drummond, a block watch captain to the north of her coverage area.
“We decided we’d sort of share information back and forth,
and she was added,” Carlson said of the small communications network she’d
created with her co-captain Betty Lucas.
Paula Mueller, who lives with her husband on Smith Street,
would read about crime incidents on Nextdoor or local media, but felt it wasn’t
timely. She wanted to share real-time information that could benefit her own
block, such as if there was a spate of vehicle prowls three blocks away, so her
neighbors could take precautions.
“Block watch has always been a pretty grassroots endeavor,”
Mueller said. “It’s always been about know your neighbors and watch out for
each other.”
When Carlson met Mueller, she added her to her small
network, followed by Robert Kettle, who chaired the Queen Anne Community
Council’s Public Safety Committee from 2015-17.
“I don’t force it, but I pretty much have everyone on my
block,” Kettle said.
If someone moves into a home in Carlson’s territory, they
can expect a visit and to be added to the block watch distribution list.
“We feel it’s really important,” she said.
While block watches are usually tapped into their respective
police precincts and community police team, the Seattle Police Department
doesn’t share information between them.
But West Precinct Crime Prevention coordinator Barb Biondo
did share an invitation with block watch captains about the developing Queen
Anne Block Watch Network. Mueller said Biondo also connected them with the West
Seattle Block Captains Network, which provided a decade of experience to help
in creating one of their own.
The Queen Anne Block Watch Network launched with 18 block
captain last November, and will have its first outreach meeting 7-8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 12, at Queen Anne Manor, 100 Crockett St.
Biondo will provide an introduction to block watches for
those currently without one, and Frank Gall will provide an introduction to
emergency preparedness. Gall is with the Magnolia Interbay Queen Anne Disaster
Response group. Learn more at MIQABePrepared.org.
Mueller said the Queen Anne Block Watch Network will work
best if it’s kept to block watch captains, who would be able to distribute
shared information through their own block watch channels. The West Seattle
Block Captains Network has monthly meetings where the police precinct captain
shares crime stats and guest speakers address various public safety topics.
“I see that in our future,” Kettle said.
Queen Anne predominantly experiences issues surrounding
property crimes, Kettle said, but Lower Queen Anne does have the occasional
firearm report. Part of the problem is that people don’t always report crimes
and data isn’t accurate. He said he’s frustrated that SPD’s online reporting
system is not connected to the 911 system, and an understaffed police force
needs the benefit of better data sets.
Carlson said “The Big One” is also coming, referring to a
major earthquake in the Cascadia Subduction Zone expected to hit the region
within the next 50 years, which many neighborhoods and groups are now
addressing more proactively. The Office of Emergency Management has made it
clear many times over that a large-scale earthquake will likely mean residents
will be on their own for several weeks or months.
This falls under public safety, Mueller said, and the Queen
Anne Block Watch Network can also address emergency preparedness in the face of
such a catastrophic natural event.
“It doesn’t have to be a crime issue,” she said, “it can be
any kind of safety issue.”
Kettle said there was a house fire across the street from
him recently, and it was neighbors who sprang into action to save an elderly
couple and their dog; the cat got out on its own. A doctor living in the
neighborhood attended to the couple. That’s the benefit of a block watch, he said.
“It creates a community, and you get to know who’s who,”
Kettle said.
Mueller said block watches have brought neighbors together
for other public safety issues, such as signing petitions and writing letters
requesting crosswalks, stop signs and other infrastructure and city support.