SWAT Stand-off in Leschi

What's the coincidence?

Monfort is the suspect whose dna was left at both the Charles St fire-bombings and at the scene of the murder of Officer Brenton. Monfort's traffic stop was near the 29th & Yesler shooting of Brenton. Tonight's standoff is a few blocks east.

I'm with asteele-- there definitely seems to be connections here:
http://seattle.everyblock.com/announcements/by-date/2009/11/

see above

um - you'd prefer that we allow crazed gunmen to run our streets unchecked....

um...the police had asked the helicopters to leave...

yeah - the *news* helicopters, but the police helicopters need to be here. The police wanted the news helicopters out of the way.

E Yesler turns into Lake Dell and then into Alder, which then connects to Lake Washington.

SWAT operations often include several tactics which include explosions and firings sounding like gunshots and sometimes small bombs--sadly, some of the recent summer/fall activity in the neighborhood has taught us that. I think the advice about not calling 911 is NOT intended prevent people from reporting suspicious activity, but for people that live in the immediate vicinity of the SWAT activity. Calling 911 on that known activity (especially when you have several officers on the street right there) can potentially block the lines for actual emergencies that aren't already being attended to.

I've been hearing helicopters for 10-15 min. I'm a distance away though - edge of First Hill/Capitol Hill. Maybe they've been told to leave?

The news is over. No more live broadcast for the night.

12:05, from 32nd and Cherry. I still hear a single chopper circling - glad they're hear and appreciate their efforts.

Could it be concern of sharing airspace with the police chopper?

The FAA called SPD and asked what kind of air perimeter they wanted enforced, so there's no jurisdictional issue.

There's a big safety issue for the news copters too. There's been a couple of recent incidents where they've run into eachother as they circle a crime scene.

Are they limiting what can be shot? Or limiting the area from which to shoot from?
It's the crazy tactics that certain media outlets will take to get the advantage, that is what's plain scary to me...
From The Seattle Times,
"Earlier in the day, Troyer said a KING-5 TV helicopter was interfering with "tactical operations" of police investigating the shootings, slowing down the search for suspects. The pilot had been asked to leave and refused, but KING apparently called off the helicopter."

The other consideration is the noise factor. Not all police officers have earbuds. Having a chopper too close completely drowns out radio transmissions; compromising officer safety as well as tactics.

Our Police Officers are attempting to catch a proven violent person, they know that he is stalking them, and that he has no respect for life. Then we get these News sourses attempting to scoop a story while possibly adding danger to the Police Officers and to the rest of us. The noise of the helicopter made it hard to hear anything blocks away, let alone hear if another Officer was attempting to communicate on site. If the Police were blocking access to an area, it certainly was for a reason of safety, and all of us needed to support this, and not require them to split their attention to keep the news media back out of the potential danger zone. Why would a channel 7 news van attempt twice to sneak past a road block? The Officers had to stop their current activity to remind the news crew that there was a violent, gun toating person possibly sneaking around, and they ( channel 7 news crew ), needed to move back out of suspected danger zone. This is not a constitional issue, it is a basic duty of our Police Officers to protect us from preceived danger, and the fact that these Officers had to split their attention between a suspected danger in front of them, to prevent the News crews possibly getting in danger, is really sad. Why add to the Officers problems, give them a break!

absolutely yes

You are right -- the follow up from dispatch was for them just to report to the post, so it could be they are gettng ready to do something, since they have been there for a few hours.

Must have mis-understood something sounds like it is still going on

then leave. the upscaling of leschi and the CD isn't making it safer. rich, white folks looking for a diverse experience are making it harder and harder for folks from here to live here. poverty is at the root of these issues, and fancy coffee shops and cupcake stands are driving up property values and making life harder.

if you care, then learn about crime and poverty and check what you're doing to contribute to it.

I suppose Kaaren Andrews had something to do with this too???? Can't you find a way to tie this back to Madrona K-8. Come on Richard.....

If it was your family member would the silence still be blessed. They are not doing it to bother you.