Hello, Seattle. We meet again.
Some of you may already know me from the time I spent as a reporter covering crime and the Seattle Police Department at PubliCola.com, SeattleCrime.com, and The Stranger but, for those that don’t, allow me introduce myself.
For the last five years, I’ve covered shootings and stabbings from Little Beirut to Rainier and Henderson. I’ve detailed the department’s uphill battle towards hiring more officers. I’ve profiled long-running undercover investigations, interviewed gang members and the families of their victims, and pored over thousands of police reports to keep Seattle residents informed about purse snatchings and car prowls in their neighborhoods. It’s been anything but boring.
Now the Seattle Police Department has asked me to work with them to keep you updated on the latest in crime and policing around the city.
As a life-long Seattle resident, I know how alarming it can be to wake up in the middle of the night to the wail of police sirens rushing by your window or a helicopter buzzing overhead, and not know why.
Starting today, you’ll be able to find answers to those questions here on the Blotter, where I’ll be posting about neighborhood crime, issues like the department’s efforts to clean up Belltown by offering treatment to low-level street drug dealers, and what SPD’s doing to address a rise in gun violence across the city.
I’ll also be working with the department on a few projects to improve your ability to access information about crime in your neighborhoods and better connect you with the men and women of SPD who work hard, every day, to keep you safe.
Now more than ever, Seattle residents need to be assured that the police department is here to help. I want to hear from you if you’ve got concerns about issues in your neighborhood or want to know more about what the department’s doing to make you safer.
Riding around in patrol cars and talking to officers and detectives over the last few years has allowed me to see a very different side of the city I was born and raised in. I want to continue to share that unique perspective with you, to give you a better picture of the patient, meticulous and fearless work that SPD does every day.