Seattle Police, over at Nextdoor, today posted:
“To date there have been almost 3,000 car prowls in the city for 2016. This number is up more than 500 from last year.”
In an accompanying graphic, police have identified the top 12 sites to get your car prowled.
Northgate Mall led all the rest with 17 prowls; downtown came in second with 11.
As it happens, this is actual news. Northgate has long been a hot spot, but Capitol Hill was the leader two years ago.
Police have tips on not being a victim:
There are some simple ways to lower the chance of having your car broken into.
1. Remove all your valuables.
2. That gym bag full of dirty clothes from today’s workout, toss it in the trunk. A bad guy just sees a bag to steal.
3. Before leaving your parked car, always remove the keys, roll up the windows and lock the car.
4. If your car is stored in a carport or parked near your house, leave your exterior lights on throughout the night.
5.If you park your car in a dark or isolated area, consider the City Light Area Lighting Program, which permits additional light fixtures to be placed on existing poles. The cost is less than $5 per month per light. Call (206) 684-3000 for more information.
Finally, if you find yourself the victim of a car prowl either call police or report it online at: http://www.seattle.gov/Police/report/def…
Without a report we can’t track crime and direct patrols into the area to stop emerging crime trends.
The Major Crimes Task Force continues to investigate these crime trends and we will keep you updated as noteworthy cases are closed.
I just don’t know how police can stop car prowls. We can take steps to make our cars and homes less likely to be broken into, but it seems like property crimes always go up when we have a lot of people living under the poverty line desperate for money to survive or support their drug habit.
It sounds as if the precinct must still be understaffed. This is a known problem, and there should be some routine policing going on.
I watched a guy case my car at Northgate mall. I doubled back and caught him tracking me into the mall. Then he took off.