OTHELLO - The August 7 Rainier Othello Safety Association (ROSA) night out against crime centered on a neighborhood nook of well kept New England style homes, tidy gardens, and backyard swings. A giant inflatable dragon-shaped jumping toy blocked the convergence of South Orchard Street and Orchard Place as the toy monster's belly filled with children bouncing up and down with glee. Dozens more scurried about its feet in a chaotic flurry of miniature-bicycle traffic. Adults gathered around tables of ribs, salad, and potatoes chips discussing pets, kids, Mariners baseballand their deep concern for safety in a neighborhood, which South Precinct Captain Tom Byers described during the gathering as "part of Seattle's epicenter of crime."
A wide disparity of opinion was aired on whether crime had gotten better or worse since last year's night out. Sarah Valenta of Homesight's Community Safety Initiative thought things had gotten better because "more people are paying attention. There are more eyes on the street now."
Captain Byers agreed that the situation is a little better, noting that there were not as many shootings this summer. Byers said what police need most to do their jobs is help from citizens. Police officers have regularly spoken at ROSA meetings, instructing neighbors on how to observe and report what they see.
However, long time resident Cathleen Whipple has noticed little change.
"We still have the car wash [nearby on Rainier Avenue South] and we're stuck with it," she said, referencing a local business suspected as a front for drug dealing.
Southeast Seattle Crime Prevention Council chair Mariana Quornstrom said, "in some respects we've gone backwards." She pointed out that activities for youth have been cut back. For example, the Rainier Beach Community Center stopped allowing youth to play basketball indoors.
"Investment in youth is the name of crime prevention," Quornstrom said.
South Precinct Lt. James Koutsky, who oversees Weed and Seed Projects in Southeast Seattle, agrees. He is concerned that federal funds will go away and with them projects like the Southeast Asian Youth Program and the Atlantic Street Project. These programs depend on very small grants of between $5,000 and $25,000, but have made a difference, noted Koutsky.
Quarnstrom, however, objected to reliance upon time-limited funding programs. She said local government needs to commit to its youth.
"Give me a fraction of the money for incarceration and we can do so much to mentor youth," she said. "Each inmate costs $37,000 per year. That money could go a long way to keep schools open after hours and hire tutors. We have got to get into a more creative mode."
WHAT'S WORKING NOW
There was a strong convergence of opinion on what has helped improve the neighborhood crime situation over the past year. Everyone agreed that the most important factor is citizen involvement. Cindy Granard, a former Othello neighborhood police officer, stated that, "building community has been the key."
Granard noted that regular neighborhood walks, street beautification projects clean-ups, and the annual neighborhood night-out event have sent a message to the undesirables.
"Criminals want to be in places where people don't care about their neighborhoods," Granard said.
Most people insisted, however, that more neighbors need to get involved. Besides the many attending the night out, more remained behind the walls of their nearby homes, seemingly unaware of what was going on.
"The community needs to broaden its outreach to people who are not here," Koutsky said.
There was an equally firm consensus on important actions needed to both literally and figuratively "clean up" Othello. Everyone at the gathering complained of large, vacant lots littered with trash and teeming with rats. Blackberry briars encroach heavily on sidewalks illegally usurped by automobiles, both of which leave a minimal right of way for pedestrians.
"Empty, vacant lots need to be somehow reclaimed by parks and nice buildings," said Valenta. "Someone has to approach those land owners and get them to do something."
In her job, Valenta works to promote this type of change. Both Valenta and Byers referenced "the broken window theory."
"Decay sends a message that people don't care," said Byers.
Granard added that local politicians must slate funding for revitalization.
"We need to turn some of those (ugly vacant lots) into little parks surrounded by shops and restaurants," she said.
WHO NEEDS TO HELP MORE
There was faith among the group that clean-up efforts help reduce crime. However, Dani Carroll, working on the same evening with another neighborhood night-out group to cleanup a trash-infested parking strip in the next block on Othello Street, was dubious.
"The criminals will just go someplace else," she said.
Carroll sited anti-gang activity as an important factor.
"A very important step that the mayor's office can take is reinstating the [Seattle Police Department's] Gang Unit," she said. "Having a fully staffed Gang Unit to focus on the crime will help us track membership, territories and sophisticated business dealings of the gangs. Additionally, this will allow us to more effectively deter recruitment through social services, schools and neighborhood groups by providing alternate activities."
An array of creative responses arose in answer to a more philosophical question about the true, and deeper-rooted, causes of crime.
Koutsky pointed out the "dysfunctional environments that kids grow up in as well as lack of proper mentorship and leadership." Whipple added that there is "not enough interest from parents, and weapons are too easily accessible." Captain Byers sited "poverty, a permissive society, and the availability of drugs."
The most unanimous opinion of the evening was that, while the causality of crime is a complex issue, its fundamental roots lie in poverty, disparity, and lack of opportunity.
Some felt these causes too deep and widespread for neighborhood solutions alone, but others expressed willingness to tackle them at the local level.
Some recommended neighborhood-based economic justice projects were small businesses focusing on local hiring, making first-time home ownership more of a reality in the South End, education, and job training.
Othello writer Mona Lee may be reached via editor@sdistrictjournal.com
