The Ugly: As reported by Rose Egge in KOMO TV, Redmond News, and www.MyNorthwest.com
According to Kathryn Reith from the Lake Washington School District on 9/2, Thursday night, someone got into Audubon school and threw tempura paint from the school art room all over nine classrooms. Walls, desks, “pretty much everything” was splattered with paint, Reith said.
Nothing was stolen. Reith said the actions were just “mean-spirited.”
Classes at Audubon Elementary began Wednesday and a custodian discovered the vandalism Thursday night. He had been in the gymnasium and the portables vacuuming when the crime occurred. He didn’t hear anything, but saw the paint when he was finishing up for the day.
The custodian joined other staff cleaning up the mess all night. By this morning, everything was cleaned up – although a couple classes were delayed.
Reith says the vandalism was completely unexpected. “It’s a wonderful neighborhood. This is completely out of the blue.”The Bad: As reported by Alyssa Kleven of www.mynorthwest.com and Jim Bove, Redmond Police
On 9/2, not far from Audubon on Bell-Red Road in Overlake, Bank of America was robbed. "The suspect demanded money but did not use, or imply that he had, a weapon. He left with an undisclosed amount of cash." Nearby,on 8/25, in Overlake on NE 25th St. US Bank was robbed. In addition, an alarming number of burglaries (24) have been reported in August -many in the Overlake area.The Good: As reported by Jim Bove, Redmond Police Public Information Officer on 9/4.
The Redmond Police Department is hosting an "informational meeting" at 7 p.m., Wednesday, September 8 at Audubon Elementary School, 3045 180th Ave NE in Redmond. 425-936-2500. It's geared towards Overlake residents because of the unusual incidence of crime in the area.Posted By Bob Yoder on 9/5
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I applaud the Police Department’s efforts to keep us informed; but I believe they should update their methods of communicating with Redmond residents. Is a meeting the best way to meet the objectives? I don’t think so; e-mail, the city web site, and blogs such as this one, should be used to expedite delivery and improve the quality of information about these serial crimes. The number of people who will attend the meeting is much smaller than the number who could learn about the problem via the other methods listed.
ReplyDeleteProviding basic crime prevention information is not the best way to create a partnership between the police department and the residents when there is an ongoing and serious crime problem. Citizens need the same type of information that the patrol officers and detectives need; it must be timely and specific to be most valuable. Rather than send an invitation with generic information, the invitation should include specifics about the criminal activity so that the information and tips from the public can be from a well-informed perspective.
For example, if I live in a neighborhood where these crimes are occurring and I know the specific information about time of day, day of week, suspect and vehicle description, type of property taken, method of entry to the residence, etc., I am much more likely to call the police with information about activities I observe that correlate well with those facts. While it is necessary and prudent to withhold information about the victim’s identity, the other details should be made available to the public. What is the risk?
A couple of years ago there was a report of someone in a white van in the neighborhood who was stopping and talking with young girls. Because the information was specific, I heard about this suspect description from multiple sources; friends, neighbors, PTA representatives, etc. Everyone was on the lookout for this vehicle. Better and more timely information disseminated to the public will result in better information to the police to assist in the apprehension of the criminal; and that should be the objective of this communication.