Hello-
I was in Walgreens at 23rd and Jackson at about 2:30pm when a rush of people swooped into the store stating they had seen someone with a gun. Does anyone know what happened there?
Does it seem to others that gun shootings are becoming more and more common in the CD? Why can’t the police crack down on the culprits? I don’t get it. I don’t even feel safe walking around the neighborhood anymore, especially not with my infant daughter.
-BN
I grew up in the CD and this pains me. The crime is once again going up. Just Friday my house was broken into and my flat screen, jewelry, and laptop were stolen. It is just not the same anymore.
I heard from some witnesses that a student pulled a gun out, but as I didn’t see it myself I can’t say for sure that its valid information.
Man – That Walgreens is always a scary place. There is almost always a few thugs packing guns on that block. Yes, you can tell if you look. I only go in there if my athletes foot is really acting up bad.
I stopped filling my family prescriptions there and have returned to Bartell’s. I would rather support the local business (Bartell’s) anyhow, but was trying to support the CD businesses and use that Wallgreen’s. Not anymore. :(
It seems like Jackson – Cherry along 23rd is just going to hell…right in the mix of the middle and high school, not to mention numerous parks, community centers, and libraries. It’s painful to watch, and horrifying to live in fear of reckless, careless actions by my ‘neighbors’.
We have to say enough is enough and stand up to it.
With our city suffering budget cuts, it does seem that resources such as the SPD have begun to be drawn off to neighborhoods with both political clout and people willing to standup and be heard. Sorry to say it, but visibility in front of news cameras or town hall meetings does seem to pull needed resources to an area like the CD. When ever we have the opportunity, we locals need to speakup, get attention for our area, help the CD get back on track.
—- We have long remained away from both this Walgreens and the Red Apple. Just need to at least feel welcome, if not safe!
So what do you expect to happen in a continment zone, Budget cuts, gotta protect those nighborhoods in other areas. Cheaper to contain the scum in one area. Always a minority neighborhood, or percieved to be one.
Welcome to the containment zone!
You sure are stuck on that containment zone bit eyes. It’s like an old record player stuck in a scratch. Whenever I see your screen name, I know that ‘containment zone’ will follow within just a few words. It’s almost like a game for me now, it’s kind of fun to play. Oh and for the record ALL neighborhoods are suffering from the police hiring freeze, not just your neck of the woods.
The Walgreens parking lot has hosted shootings in the past, but I’ve never felt threatened – I suppose it only takes being in the wrong place at the wrong time once to catch a stray, though. I don’t got to Walgreens because it’s such a funky store, and since I live approximately equidistant between Walgreens and Bartells, I’d just as soon support the better of the two.
As for Red Apple – I LOVE RED APPLE! And would encourage everyone to stop in once a week for something. Besides, they’ve got the best music going. People dance in the aisles.
Then, down the street, at 23 and Dearborn is Parnells, the flag-ship of disorganized drug sales and discount blow jobs, servicing the Dearborn corridor – 23d to MLK. C’mon by, people from all over shop here.
It does seem like there’s been some trouble at 23rd and Jackson. But that corner has a lot going on too. If you haven’t been to the 23rd and Jackson Starbucks, you’re missing out. It’s a fixture.
So, in response to these postings- Come to the next East Precinct Advisory Council meeting! Since we’ve reorganized, there is increased latitude to address your concerns effectively. This is the platform to express these issues… Police command staff will be present to hear you and respond. If this is not a police issue, but a prevention problem, let us know that too! Maybe it’s a budget issue? We can take that to the city electeds and decision makers on your behalf- remember they need your vote!
That said, Thursday October 27th, 6 PM, Seattle University, Chardin Hall, Room 142
1020 East Jefferson. (Entrance at 11th and E Jefferson, free parking for attendees in front of the building)
Come and bring your issue to the table. Support working toward resolution, or at least, reducing these incidents. It’s better than nothing.
-Stephanie Tschida, EastPAC Chair
To be clear, I’ve never felt threatened at Wallgreens or Starbucks…in fact, that’s kind of what freaks me out. It seems like such a nondescript little neighborhood shopping center. But all the ‘random’ shootings say otherwise, and I just think, “Is it worth risking my 5 year old’s safety?” And no one should have to think that way.
Thank you for continuing to promote these. You’re right, we need to stand up and say it. I will do my best to be there.
Yeah, And I prever to drink out of the toilet too.
So what does it take to feel threatenned? Must somebody put a gun in your face and say they are going to shoot you. Certainly that is a threat. But what about knowing that there are armed criminals securing an area to promote their dominance of the gang aliances, drug trade and theft rings operating in the area. There is a constant organized crime presence in the parking lots of Red Apple and Walgreens. If you don’t find this threatenning – Then I am pretty sure you don’t understand how organized crime and gang violence works. You are being threatenned and should proabably pay attention.
Sadly, we are all trapped in the containment zone with “eyes”…
@Grumbo – True. These are threats against our community, our safety, everything. I simply meant I hadn’t had anyone threaten me directly, or yell obscenities at me, or toss racial slurs at me (which happened to me on my way to work today), or go after my purse, or try to grab my cell phone, etc. But you’re right, we are living under a constant threat of violence and our neighborhood is a battleground.
I like Walgreen’s – their products and their very helpful staff. But I choose the time of day I go there and even then, I stay very aware. I was there during a robbery/attempted stabbing of their cashier; I have been asked for money while shopping inside the store (besides many times outside their entrance); I was threatened by a mentally disturbed person while shopping there; I came out of the store one day to find the police searching the bushes next to my parked car for bullets that might relate to a shooting that had just happened. But I still go there (carefully).
Thank you for your update on this. While it is both illegal and disturbing to have a gun drawn or at least visible in a neighborhood area, that in itself is not the same as a “shooting,” and we need to avoid making the situation seem worse than it is.
Nobody told all of you white people to move in. If you dont feel safe get the fuck out
Great example of a containment zone. Whre else would a store like Parnells would be allowed to exist for decades!
seriously?!! so, because you are of another race than white, you think it’s ok to live with the constant threat of violence?? you probably have no idea, but your argument is incredibly racist–black people deserve to live in violent neighborhoods, it is their birth right??? that is really screwed up thinking.
it is EVERYONE’S right to live in a safe neighborhood. if you don’t want to do anything to make it safer, then maybe YOU need to think about leaving.
i’ve read months worth of this back-and-forth banter, through various threads…but this comment just makes my blood boil. i think this comment would fall into eyes’ “head in ass” category.
Game?, dead bodies, robberies, gangs, no real business districts, no social street life, no game jackass, a sad reality because of city policy to cantain it all here.
Just like the criminals, keep stalking my posts, you will read the same, living proof that you are just another contributer to the CD containment zone.
Thank you for the quote!
I did post a respnse to this meeting waste of time but I guess it was censored.
It’s a shame i grew up in the cd love the cd I still get my hair cut by the same man who done so for 15 yrs but will not and could not raise my kids there and its too bad
Stephanie, I can’t believe the city doesn’t know everything they need to know. None of these problems are new, I’ve been in this n’hood for 25 years – same problems. So it leads me to believe there’s either nothing the city can do, or nothing the city is willing to do. Either way, the beat goes on.
So you are saying the black people feel safe here and don’t mind don’t mind the shooting, drugs and theft?
It is helpful for people to give specifics of problems – exact locations, time of day, etc. – and also to report when and where things are better (this happens!). It is helpful to listen to presenters who provide ideas and information about resources. It is helpful to hear how other neighborhoods have resolved problems. It is helpful to learn prevention techniques. It is helpful for SPD to know what people actually care about, as opposed to things that may be unlawful but don’t seem to create a problem (city budget does not provide for a response to minor infractions that no one is complaining about).
Meetings like this provide a forum for meeting people from nearby neighborhoods and business people from the area and collaborating to work on issues common to both. They are an opportunity to make suggestions and to get answers to “questions you’ve always wanted to ask.” We can request speakers on relevant subjects. We learn about opportunities to volunteer on projects we are interested in.
Give it a try!
What im saying is its a lot worse from the outside in.
the economy is shot and even when it was good black people always have got the short end of the stick.
what do you do when you cant get a job and theres no hope? that explains drug sells. As for the violence? This world was built on violence (wars) you cant justify one war and not another if your not in it then it will never make sense to you
Discount blow-jobs, you say…
Indeed, I fully agree. It is really just a matter of how well your are able to work the game of status quo. If for what ever reason you cannot find a way to compete then you must play a different game and it is often likely that the conflicting rules are in fact at war and the pawns simple decide how violently they will pursue based on nonsensicle clues from alice in wonderland leaders.
So the violence problem that has been attributed to you know who is a result of deminishing budgets and shrinking police presence. If such is the case then us rich old retired folk ought to be able to solve the problem by simply hiring some private security to surveil and patrol the area. For a monthly budget of $25,000 we can hire 3 armed guards with old cruisers and camera equipment. As there are 2500 retirees with incomes greater than $75,000 in the hood, we should be able to each contribute $10 per month to the fund. Can you imagine how much better our 3 dedicated officers could brush away the crime than our foolish requests for help from the shitty pd. The cops are alread directed to let things be in the south end so as not to get the municiple league all upset. Our guys we can fire if we don’t get results. Start today by texting “GRUMBO”. Your fee will automatically be charged to your phone bill every month.
I’ve been to enough of these PAC meetings to understand their appeal. It’s almost like a polite dance: Reps show up from the SPD and city atty’s office, listen earnestly to neighbors’ complaints – shootings, muggings, prowlings, noise, drugs, drunks. SPD presents neighborhood crime stats and addresses high-profile crimes from the past month. Neighbors plead for more patrols in this area or that and SPD says OK, sure, and keep calling and reporting crime when you see it.
(An aside: The city attorney’s rep rarely has much to offer — and this has always left me curious about its lack of stake in the neighborhood. The office was entirely unhelpful, in my view, during the 22nd and Fir halfway-house discussion two years ago. Why are you at these meetings?)
Anyway, neighbors — the 20 or so who make time — have their say and are temporarily placated, so it seems. The meetings are a good enough exchange of information … better than nothing, for sure. But this past year, the police seem decidedly less committed, due to budgetary constraints and because, as a unit, they have been neutered into inaction by the public backlash to rogue cops. Funds for our neighborhood crime-prevention officer evaporated while shootings and stick-ups and dealing are more rampant and conspicuous than I remember in recent years.
It’s disappointing that so much community hand-wringing — evident on this site more than at the meetings, frankly — brings such a tepid response. This reflects not only a lack of dollars but to a lack of political clout by the ‘hood and a lack of will by the city — atty’s office, too. Local media are strangely disinterested, seeming to ignore any crime short of a fatality.
It seems wishful thinking that these monthly meetings could carry a good feeling beyond the next day. While it is tiresome to hear “eyes'” broken-record declaration that the CD is a containment zone, it feels too often true. Ah, well, the rainy season is almost upon us, and that tends to slow the thugs and wanna-be’s.
I appreciate your perspective. This experience is precisely why the East Precinct Crime Prevention Coalition became an independent entity now called East Precinct Advisory Council (EastPAC). The Board is working earnestly to overcome this “polite dance”. This is not what we want. This is not why we volunteer (a lot of) our time to figure out how to effectively make change. There is no benefit to us to design and run these meetings to go no where. We need you and more like you at our meetings to give your input, thoughts and suggestions. Like I said, as of last month, we are not beholding to anyone but East Precinct citizens.
Come and help us make change.
Stephanie
So Carolyn, people should be allowed to point guns in peoples faces, maybe a childs face even? I tend to disagree. Casual attitudes like this is why these events are happening, get angry and stop this bs from happening ever again and you will see shootings go down.
I agree with Eyes, if you dont then you agree with all the crime that happens here. Why wouldnt you agree that crime is out of control here? Do you like up on a hill nearby looking down from behind your security gated house?
Love the idea Grumbo, I would contribute to that fund. Maybe we can hire a full time guard for the corner of Dearborn and 23rd.
After being harassed for money from two twitchy people outside Walgreens multiple times, as well as at Red Apple, I will never go back. I cannot support establishments that endorse people like that setting up shop right outside their front door. I still hold hope that Weingarten Realty will clean the place up.
It is amazing to me that comments like this are allowed, is it not racist to attack other race? Even if it is white. If you wonder why you cant get a job or people look at you funny its because of your attitude and comments like these, nothings else, blame yourself.
I just got a job. I worked my ass off to get the job. I work for minimum wage and see plenty of jobs out there, so no excuses. If someone cannot get a job because of non-self induced disability fine, but if you can work and decide to steal and sell drugs instead of work at McDonalds then you are a waste of space. Why cant they go sit out in front of Home Depot and offer manual labor for $5 an hour?
“Seeing a gun” (possibly being carried legally) is not usually the same as “a gun pointed in someone’s face.” A shooting implies that a gun was actually fired. It does not increase safety to exaggerate what happened (or may have happened – it seems to be all hearsay in the first place).
This is not a “casual” attitude. It is attempting to deal with real problems (an actual shooting or threat thereof), rather than panicking over what someone thinks someone might have seen.
It is the urban league that we need to shut down. Every time some agency does the right thing – these buys think it is some how racist and that the government must appologize. And they get their way – fewer cops, crummier service, and general decay.
I think it is important to allow these things to be aired in this forum. We are vitually all racists whether we care to beleive it or not. Airing of bad ideas is the only way to get them understood and possibly improved. And it is important to keep tolerance of speech as broad as possible. There are those among us who would ban speech that has gramatical errors. These our our opinions and thoughts. Let’s be open and honest. And certainly not strike things from the discussion board that we should probably hear and reckognize as factors operating right here in our racist little hood.
I question anyone that says “they have grown up here”, and that “the neighborhood is so much worse”. I grew up here in the CD and it has most definitely improved from a safety and crime standpoint (nothing else). Anyone that says that it has gotten worse simply doesnt know what they are talking about. Another point on that is the fact that more coverage and exposure has been given to the crime that does occur because of the new demographic that has moved in. New residents think “its just getting so terrible, something has to be done”, but nobody cared 10,15, 20 years ago when the neighborhood was less gentrified.
I say, “bullshit”. I don’t want to frequent a store or neighborhood where I even SEE a gun. The only reason to HAVE a gun is to USE a gun. It’s the proverbial “tip of the iceberg” phenomenon. If you fee like you need to carry a gun when you’re in some particular area, that’s not where I want to be. Simple.
For sure the neighborhood has gotten safer in last 10 or 20 years.
I am in too Grumbo!
If the highlands and other gated communities can do why not we? Businesses do it.
Great jobs stimulation, perhaps more than just three.
this is true
plan to attend the EastPAC meetings. You may believe that it is all talk. However, important initiatives have resulted from these meetings.