Police bust suspected drug operation out of Saeteun’s Garage
On September 3, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) said they busted a major drug operation out of Saeteun’s Garage – Auto Body Customs at 8th Avenue S and Jackson Street.
SPD arrested two brothers after a two-month investigation into their alleged drug sales in the auto body garage. Police said that in the course of surveillance, they saw “multiple drug users” coming into the business to buy drugs every morning. In the bust, SPD allegedly found multiple guns, ammunition, and suspected narcotics including meth, cocaine, and scales with narcotics residue.
The two men were booked into the King County Jail on narcotics charges. SPD said they would also refer criminal charges for the man who owned the business for unlawful use of a building for drug purposes.
Violent incidents in the neighborhood
On September 5, a man was critically injured after being shot during an altercation at 3:48 p.m. near 12th Avenue S and Jackson Street. The Seattle Police Department (SPD) and the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) provided medical aid and took him to Harborview Medical Center. Police said the suspect shot multiple rounds at the victim and fled in a car. The investigation is ongoing.
On September 8, police arrested a 44-year-old man for allegedly stabbing another man near 12th Avenue S and King Street. Police found a man with stab wounds, and the SFD provided medical aid and took him to Harborview. Police located the suspect, arrested him, and booked him into the King County Jail for felony assault. According to police, the man stabbed the victim multiple times in the abdomen after running up to him from behind.
A pedestrian was struck and killed by a semi-truck at 12th Avenue South and South King Street on the morning of September 14. SFD took the man to Harborview, where he died despite life-saving efforts. Police determined that the driver was not impaired, and did not make an arrest. SPD is investigating the incident.
A man was killed and another man seriously injured after a shooting on September 23 around 9:40 p.m. at 12th Avenue South and South Lane Street. Police found an adult man wounded by a gunshot. Despite efforts to provide aid, he succumbed to the injuries. A second man was found with a gunshot wound in the leg. SFD provided aid and took him to Harborview Medical Center. Homicide detectives are investigating what led up to the shooting.
SPD arrested a 41-year-old man after responding to a shooting in Hing Hay Park at 1:40 a.m on September 28. Police responded to reports of a man pointing a gun at people in the park, and firing a shot. Police found and arrested the man for assault and unlawful possession of a firearm and booked him into the King County Jail. According to police, the suspect shot at a woman after getting into an argument with her and her boyfriend, but did not hit anyone.
CCTV surveillance expanded in Seattle after pilot program in the CID
On September 9, the Seattle City Council approved the expansion of the Seattle Police Department’s (SPD) Closed-Circuit Television Camera (CCTV) and Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) surveillance technology pilots. After piloting the surveillance technology in the Chinatown International District (CID), 3rd Avenue downtown, and Aurora Avenue North earlier this year, new cameras will be installed in the Stadium District, around Garfield High School, and in a section of Capitol Hill. The council passed another ordinance allowing police to access data from 145 traffic cameras in Seattle. The ordinances were approved in a 7-2 vote, with Councilmembers Alexis Mercedes Rinck and Dan Strauss voting against them. The vote came after more than 100 people spoke during public comment, the overwhelming majority opposing the expansion.
The ACLU of Washington, OneAmerica, and Asian Counseling and Referral Service released a statement condemning the ordinances. They noted that community organizations and the city’s Surveillance Advisory Working Group raised privacy concerns about the technology pilot, and potential harms for immigrant and refugee communities, whose surveillance data could be captured by ICE.
Although SPD and the City claim the cameras will detect and deter violent crime, gun violence, human trafficking and the drug trade, the Seattle Office of Civil Rights (OCR) cited a 40-year systematic review conducted by the City University of New York showing that CCTV is mostly only effective in reducing property crimes. The study showed that CCTV does not reduce violent crime or help in police investigations, the ACLU has noted.
As the International Examiner reported this past spring, the City installed 20 cameras in the CID on utility poles at intersections spread in a grid across the neighborhood as part of the surveillance test pilot.
The RTCC surveillance technology accompanying the cameras “integrates dispatch, camera, officer location, gunshot detection, 911 calls, records management systems, and other information into one ‘pane of glass’ (a single view),” according to analysis of the project from the OCR.
