Car prowls?

[limeyx]

Originally Posted by SitoUK

Best option to avoid car break-ins: Take the bus whenever you can! (only semi-serious here of course but Ravenna is well-connected to many parts of town, so that's always on aoption)

True, but then I end up driving to the park & ride and there are hundreds of "targets" there with probably not much human activity during the middle of the day ...

There are extensive warning signs at the P&R about not leaving anything with your address in the car (so where do you put your registration?) or any garage clickers, money, basically anything ....

[limeyx]

Originally Posted by SitoUK

Fully understand that, I've been in LA once and tried to get by on public transit...let's just say it is not easy. On a global scale Seattle's Public Transit is probably not great but it's miles better than LA's. Plus the city is much smaller and more walkable.

You definitely better bring a knife in LA if you want to risk boarding the bus/train in many (not all) locations ... not for the faint of heart, or anyone that wants to get to work on time.

[SitoUK]

Originally Posted by limeyx

True, but then I end up driving to the park & ride and there are hundreds of "targets" there with probably not much human activity during the middle of the day ...

There are extensive warning signs at the P&R about not leaving anything with your address in the car (so where do you put your registration?) or any garage clickers, money, basically anything ....

Yeah, that's why I always find myself a place to live within walking distance of a bus or subway station

[limeyx]

Originally Posted by SitoUK

Yeah, that's why I always find myself a place to live within walking distance of a bus or subway station

A sound idea for sure technically I could cycle to this one, but I only moved here from LA a year ago, so even using the bus is a novel idea, and I think I should take it one step at a time

[415_s2k]

I had my S2000 broken into a few times when I lived up there. Once, right out in front of my place in Maple Leaf (they stole the seats because they bolt into Civics); then, saw someone looking in it two days after it got broken into and chased them off; then again after I had new seats put in... however, this time I had them bolted in with an odd hex key, from underneath, and Loc-Tite'd them in. They still cut the top, and then slashed the seats in anger. When I worked on Pill Hill, it got broken into a couple times again. I never left anything of value in it after the first break in, but even still... the last time it got broken into was in the Virginia Mason parking lot, where I worked; they took a sweater and my pair of Dr. Marten's were on the ground, as though someone had tried them on. They were size 14, so they left em... but, my insurance company ended up dropping me the next cycle.

To contrast this with the LA and SF areas: I've never had the same car, now heavily-modified and more desirable to thieves, messed with once, no matter where it's been parked. Seattle is something else when it comes to car break in's. It is definitely worse the closer you are to the 5, especially further North. The cops explained to me that people drive down from Snohomish County to break into cars around North Seattle.

[CarawayDJ]

Originally Posted by 415_s2k

I had my S2000 broken into a few times when I lived up there. Once, right out in front of my place in Maple Leaf (they stole the seats because they bolt into Civics); then, saw someone looking in it two days after it got broken into and chased them off; then again after I had new seats put in... however, this time I had them bolted in with an odd hex key, from underneath, and Loc-Tite'd them in. They still cut the top, and then slashed the seats in anger. When I worked on Pill Hill, it got broken into a couple times again. I never left anything of value in it after the first break in, but even still... the last time it got broken into was in the Virginia Mason parking lot, where I worked; they took a sweater and my pair of Dr. Marten's were on the ground, as though someone had tried them on. They were size 14, so they left em... but, my insurance company ended up dropping me the next cycle.

To contrast this with the LA and SF areas: I've never had the same car, now heavily-modified and more desirable to thieves, messed with once, no matter where it's been parked. Seattle is something else when it comes to car break in's. It is definitely worse the closer you are to the 5, especially further North. The cops explained to me that people drive down from Snohomish County to break into cars around North Seattle.

I'm moving up there in the spring. Since this thread popped up I've read quite a bit on the Internet about the problem up there. I seem to detect the same attitude that one often sees in other areas with a particular crime problem; apathy and denial. Apathy in the sense that people come to accept it and just consider it part of the cost of living there. Denial in the sense that it's downplayed (it's not violent crime, Seattle is very safe) or excuses are made for it. Problems only get solved when people take them seriously. People who car prowl are undesirables. They are problems. They are an indication of problems. Makes me wonder what is so unique about the area that makes this so common. It's not as if the Seattle metro is only area with meth addicts. You don't see this problem to that degree in most other places. It happens elsewhere, but not like that.

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by CarawayDJ

I'm moving up there in the spring. Since this thread popped up I've read quite a bit on the Internet about the problem up there. I seem to detect the same attitude that one often sees in other areas with a particular crime problem; apathy and denial. Apathy in the sense that people come to accept it and just consider it part of the cost of living there. Denial in the sense that it's downplayed (it's not violent crime, Seattle is very safe) or excuses are made for it. Problems only get solved when people take them seriously. People who car prowl are undesirables. They are problems. They are an indication of problems. Makes me wonder what is so unique about the area that makes this so common. It's not as if the Seattle metro is only area with meth addicts. You don't see this problem to that degree in most other places. It happens elsewhere, but not like that.

Once you've been burglarized/prowled a few times and dealt with the police afterwards it's a little more clear why the problem exists. The police attitude is basically that "you shouldn't keep valuable things in places where people can take them." It's not a high enforcement priority and they're there to file a report for your insurance company. Insurance fees for property/comprehensive coverage are a bit higher as a result, they're not so much concerned with prevention.

At that point it's up to the individuals, and wouldn't say most people are apathetic. The first time I got burglarized I went around to all the neighbors and told them what happened. It turns out 5 others had been hit that same week. We narrowed it down to one guy that had recently moved in and went directly to his landlord to find out who he was. The police knew him, he had a record, he disappeared that day - just up and left once he was outed. He broke in again a few months later looking for the stuff we bought to replace what he stole the first time!

[415_s2k]

Originally Posted by CarawayDJ

I'm moving up there in the spring. Since this thread popped up I've read quite a bit on the Internet about the problem up there. I seem to detect the same attitude that one often sees in other areas with a particular crime problem; apathy and denial. Apathy in the sense that people come to accept it and just consider it part of the cost of living there. Denial in the sense that it's downplayed (it's not violent crime, Seattle is very safe) or excuses are made for it. Problems only get solved when people take them seriously. People who car prowl are undesirables. They are problems. They are an indication of problems. Makes me wonder what is so unique about the area that makes this so common. It's not as if the Seattle metro is only area with meth addicts. You don't see this problem to that degree in most other places. It happens elsewhere, but not like that.

My own personal, anecdotal theory is that you've got parts of Snohomish county, especially around Everett, where you have a long history of manual labor, though jobs have dried up; you have a deep-seated meth/oxy problem; and you have reasonably close proximity to an area that is known to have a police force that's largely indifferent to stemming the problem. The problem is big enough that it'd be ridicuously easy to set up stings, but they pretty much never do. You also have extremely lax firearm laws that make it easy to obtain a gun; even if you're a criminal and can't get one, you can easily get your cousin's girlfriend or something like that to go purchase one for you... however, due to Seattle's general lack of violent crime and political leanings, the average person in Seattle, especially in middle/upper-middle class areas, aren't likely to have a gun to shoot back at you with. King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties all pretty much have revolving doors for non-violent crimes like burglary and car theft.

This story gives some degree of insight into the problem... he's been arrested over 40 times, has ten felony convictions, and is still going at it: Police fire on 'prolific vehicle prowler' near Bumbershoot - seattlepi.com

Originally Posted by mkarch

Once you've been burglarized/prowled a few times and dealt with the police afterwards it's a little more clear why the problem exists. The police attitude is basically that "you shouldn't keep valuable things in places where people can take them." It's not a high enforcement priority and they're there to file a report for your insurance company. Insurance fees for property/comprehensive coverage are a bit higher as a result, they're not so much concerned with prevention.

At that point it's up to the individuals, and wouldn't say most people are apathetic. The first time I got burglarized I went around to all the neighbors and told them what happened. It turns out 5 others had been hit that same week. We narrowed it down to one guy that had recently moved in and went directly to his landlord to find out who he was. The police knew him, he had a record, he disappeared that day - just up and left once he was outed. He broke in again a few months later looking for the stuff we bought to replace what he stole the first time!

Yeah, when I called the cops to file a report, I told them my car got broken into and the interior stripped. They asked what specifically got stolen; when I told them the seats, the cop on the other line said, "Is it a Honda S2000?"

I even offered to let them use it as a bait car since there seemed to be a near-100% guarantee it'd get hit again, but they weren't interested. Pretty much every guy on the Seattle s2ki.com forum had his S2000 hit at some point or another, and we figured out the two guys who were doing the bulk of the thefts. Went to the cops with all the info, including emails in which one of the guys told me that if I told him the location of any car that had parts I wanted he'd go hit it, and they were like, "WOW! Great work guys! ... ... ... ... Yeah! Great work!" They couldn't have cared less if they tried.

The kicker to me was that, when I went to tell my neighbors to look out in case their cars got broken into, one of them told me that they saw two guys breaking into it and gave me their description. I asked why they didn't call the cops, and they said that they thought that maybe it was my friends or someone I knew working on the car (at 3am, in the rain, on Halloween night).

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by 415_s2k

The kicker to me was that, when I went to tell my neighbors to look out in case their cars got broken into, one of them told me that they saw two guys breaking into it and gave me their description. I asked why they didn't call the cops, and they said that they thought that maybe it was my friends or someone I knew working on the car (at 3am, in the rain, on Halloween night).

Yes... that's a very Seattle problem. When something's happening, they don't want to "get involved". I couldn't understand my friend's situation that I mentioned earlier in this thread... so very brazen in daylight and done in front of so many people and... no one even thought to call the cops. Its not just the cops, but the people don't really take it seriously.