Violent robbery involving 12 to 16-year-olds raising new questions about downtown Seattle safety

A recent violent robbery in downtown Seattle involving four boys and girls, between the ages of 12 and 16, has many questioning whether criminals are winning in the heart of the city.

Seattle police confirmed to The Dori Monson Show that the violence began when a 12-year-old boy spotted the victim filming a fight with his cell phone.

The 12-year-old boy allegedly pushed the victim into a plate glass window. When the victim was on the ground, a 16-year-old girl reportedly stole his cell phone. As the victim got up to give chase, a 14-year-old boy is accused of joining in, pushing the victim back to the ground. It was all capped off with a 15-year-old girl who allegedly began kicking the victim on the ground.

Police say the 16-year-old girl arrested had eight cell phones, including the victim’s phone, on her person at the time of the arrest.

Monson was shocked by the report. “It’s like ‘Lord of Flies’ in downtown Seattle. Twelve to 16-year-old girls and boys being arrested for something like this.”

The incident occurred at Third Avenue and Pine Street in downtown Seattle, an area Monson said he’s not comfortable taking his family these days. “I love Pike Place Market and Westlake, but there is no way I would go down there with my family right now.”

Monson wanted to know what the Seattle Police Department is doing about the crime problem in the area. Sgt. Sean Whitcomb with Seattle police agreed to join the show to discuss Monson’s concerns.

“I think that area between Westlake and Pike Place has gotten completely out of control,” Monson explained. “There’s open pot smoking everywhere. I witnessed drug deals out in the open. I don’t think it’s safe and I think the criminals are winning in that stretch. What does Seattle police say about this?”

Whitcomb said he disagrees. He said they’ve heard the complaints and are dedicating resources to the area accordingly.

“We’re going to be hiring more police, they’re going to be in these areas. We’re using SeaStat which is really crime data and community feedback to deploy. So we’ve got strategic deployment to impact long-term problems like crime at Pike/Pine.”

What they really need, Whitcomb said, is for people to report illegal activity promptly.

“We need people to help us out by reporting specific activity, specific behavior, specific people to 911. Instead of saying well I saw this and I saw this, and we get it on twitter and we get it in an email. We’d like to give the officers a chance to contact people. Typically the officers are just around the block.”

A lot of the crimes seem to be happening in the open, in plain sight of everyone, Monson said. “If I walk down there right now, I bet I’d see 20 people smoking weed in that stretch.”

Whitcomb said that’s exactly the type of thing you should report to officers in the area.

“If you saw an available officer and you said, ‘That person over there is smoking pot, can you go contact them?’ The officer would walk up and make that contact and possibly write them an infraction.”

But Monson questions whether offenses like smoking pot in public will be followed up on, since Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes recently dismissed a number of public pot smoking citations.

Whitcomb said police absolutely will still issue citations. “There’s no prohibition on enforcement.” He adds the city attorney has little to do with it because the citations are just like a parking ticket and no prosecution goes with it.

In addition to what police are already doing in the area, Whitcomb said there will also be an important announcement coming soon that people with concerns might be pleased about.

“Without showing all my cards, we do have an announcement that’s in the works that should make some people happy,” said Whitcomb.

Monson still seemed unsure. He said it has been a tradition in the Monson household for decades to go downtown for some holiday revelry, but in recent years they’ve made other plans.

“My wife and daughters and I every single year used to ride the carousel at Westlake, go see the Teddy Bear Suite at the Four Seasons. It was just part of our Christmas season every single year,” he said, adding. “We go to the one at Bellevue Square now because we will not go into downtown Seattle around Westlake right now, because I don’t think we’re enforcing the laws against the criminals who are doing drugs and the like.”

Whitcomb said this time of year they’re applying even more resources to keep things under control downtown.

“As we approach the holidays and the added shopping and restaurant dining and downtown visitation in general, we do deploy extra resources to make sure that as we have this influx of people coming in to enjoy themselves in our beautiful downtown core, they feel safe and they see those uniformed, visible police officers as they go from the restaurant to the mall and back home.”

Whitcomb hoped Dori would reconsider. “I want to challenge you to go downtown, give it a try at Westlake.”

Monson said he likely wouldn’t be heading downtown this year, but he looks forward to the announcements regarding the new initiatives to continue the fight against crime in the area. “I know it’s a tough battle for you guys.”