Police have arrested at least 6 people in the attack which happened in front of 3 security guards contracted by the county to observe and report–but not intervene–when situations like this happen.

Since then, we learned the victim has been in past trouble with the law, twice charged with assault against others, including, ironically, a security guard.

Many people condemned her once this information came out; as if her past behavior was just cause for the beat down.

What a terrible standard to set.  No one said she was a saint.  But did she deserve what happened to her because of her past crimes and poor judgment?

No.

Still, some suggested the girl got what she deserved, as if the Metro tunnel situation was some kind of universal retribution for what she did.

Come on people.

Do you ever take office supplies home?  A pad of paper, maybe a box of pens?  Well then, if someone breaks into your house and jacks all your stuff while you’re away, is  that universal retribution?

Of course not.

Just like what happened to the 15-year-old girl in the Metro tunnel is not her fault.

Society is so quick to focus on a person’s mistakes, to rationalize bad behavior, and ultimately, to blame the victim.

Aren’t we taught growing up two wrongs don’t make a right?  Apparently some of you missed that lesson.

More importantly, do we want a criminal justice system that only prosecutes crimes where the victims are perfect angels?  What is a perfect angel, and who gets to create that definition?

Being protected from crime, or seeing justice in the aftermath is a right we should all have.  It should never be contingent on a narrow, irrational criteria based on the victim’s past, present or future.

It’s “justice for all”, not justice for some.

I just read your post http://www.sableverity.com/time-for-another-episode-of/ and would like you to correct two spots.  You write “Just like he has always fought the waterfront tunnel–which he is still fighting, by the way–he will fight light rail on I-90. “

The mayor supports light rail on I-90 and on 520.  It is inaccurate to write that “he will fight light rail on I-90.”

It is also inaccurate to write that the mayor is “still fighting” the waterfront tunnel.  The mayor is fighting to protect Seattle residents from being on the hook for all cost overruns, as both state law and legislative intent currently stands.  He respects the Council’s 9-0 vote to go ahead with the tunnel, though he thinks the tunnel is a bad choice for our city.

Could you please make these two corrections?

Thanks,

Aaron Pickus

Communications Staff

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn

ORIGINAL POST

Well, another week has gone by; you know what that means… another town hall has been proposed by Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn.

This time Hizzoner wants us all to come together and Kumbaya over lightrail and the 520 bridge.

What’s that you say?  We’ve already handled this regional transit issue?

Newsflash…we haven’t made any decisions if we haven’t made them the “McGinn way.”

McGinn fluffed up his chest feathers in a letter to Microsoft head Steve Balmer, inviting him to join in on a town hall with Microsoft employees.

Nevermind the voters approved putting light rail to the Eastside on I-90.  No, no, the Mayor wants it on 520.

A classic case of the newbie throwing his power where it doesn’t belong.  We have already debated, deconstructed, and most importantly decided the plan for light rail over Lake Washington.

It took ten years of meetings, forums, planning sessions and political wheeling and dealing just to get where we are now.

Now the City Council plans to study “redesign and operational changes”.  I hope that doesn’t really mean they just want to rehash this and not make a decision that moves us closer to actual construction.

Newsflash: sometimes you have to make a decision and stick with it.  Ten years is long enough.

Back to McGinn and his town hall.

It is a given that folks who want light rail on 520 or don’t want it on I-90 will be in the room, and they will be vocal-just like opponents of the tunnel replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.  The Mayor is counting on it.

Just like he has always fought the waterfront tunnel–which he is still fighting, by the way–he will fight light rail on I-90.  Because he wants it on 520.

Will the mayor get what he wants?  Will City Council get distracted by his rhetoric and push for a do-over? Will Balmer face off with McGinn in prime time?

Join me next week, same batty time, same batty channel, for another episode of …As Seattle City Hall Turns.

He upset city council- and a lot of residents when he announced a plan to replace the seawall.

A group of well organized city employees started their own website when the Mayor announced he was going to give them the axe for reasons that were questionable at best.

The biggest blow to the administration came when local political blog Publicola published a damning report about one of McGinn’s top advisors who lied repeatedly about his academic credentials.

His state of the speech last week was so underwhelming, his own staffer told him he looked like an un-made bed. Ouch.

The mayor insisted to a room full of journalists a few days later that the criticism he is getting is not about substance, but about style.

It’s both. Substance and style aren’t mutually exclusive- especially when we’re talking about politicians.

But the mayor says that no one can disagree with the issues the city should be addressing, and that he raised in his speech that wasn’t quite a speech.

But when it comes to those issues, there is no meat on the bones.

Take for example the Mayor’s new Youth and Family Initiative. What the heck is it? Having spent hours doing research and asking his office for more detailed information, I have no idea.

When I had the opportunity to ask him to give concrete detail- he didn’t. Oh he spoke on it, but at the end, I had no more information than before I asked the question.

He did say that there are problems in the city which have not gotten better. He said that the same people have been working on those problems, so it’s time to broaden the base and get more people involved.

I’m all for enlisting new worker bees. But I have to wonder, when is the mayor going to go to those people who have been working and ask them if they even have what they need to do the work effectively?

The McGinn administration seems to take an elementary approach to problem solving. They see something they don’t like or don’t understand and they move to nullify it and replace it with their own agenda.

They have town halls to hear from the people, they have town halls to hear solely from the youth- what about the service providers who work in this city? Don’t they have valuable contributions to this discussion? So far they haven’t even been mentioned.

This is the beginning of a serious disconnect.

The McGinn camp would disagree, of course. They’ve set up community forums and caucuses, after all. The mayor says he wants buy in from the community, and he wants to hear directly what they think needs to happen next.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t he just do that a few months ago on the campaign trail? He held town halls all over Seattle and according to his campaign, got great participation and the direction needed to move forward.

But they aren’t moving. They are town hall-ing. Again.

I remember that morning well.  By the time I’d gotten to work I had emails and voice messages asking me if I knew about a young man named Tyrone Love.

I didn’t know him when he was alive, but the aftermath of his murder has changed me nevertheless.

The overwhelming shock, grief and pain that blanketed the city was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.  It just seemed like everyone knew who this young man was, and no one had a negative thing to say about him; all agreed he embodied his surname- Love.

No one could understand why anyone would ever want to hurt Tyrone because he was as non-violent as a person could be.

I watched the news of his death reverberate from the north end, to the south end, beyond city limits and state lines in a unifying thread of sorrow and I did the only thing I could- I wrote about it.

Prior to that I’d become numb to the realities of violence in our city, particularly gun, gang and youth violence.  I was concerned, but not as much as I should have been.  I was knowledgeable on the issues, but not nearly as much as I should have been.  Tyrone changed that.

A year later, Tyrone’s murderer is still at large.  Besides rumors and misinformation, police have nothing solid to lead them to a suspect.  Many in the community thought there would be so much outrage, someone would have to come forward- but no one has.

It’s discouraging for his friends, and especially his family.  We think crime is solved in real life as easily as it’s solved in an hour television show- but that’s not the case.  Detectives have told Tyrone’s mother “no one saw anything.”  Or at least, no one is talking.

That is what is most upsetting for his mother Roberta and his sister Gwen.  I sat down with both of them last year.  They welcomed me into their home to talk about their son, brother, friend and father figure, and the havoc cast into their lives because of his death.

“I just sit and think and remember the last time he told me ‘I love you’, he said “Gwennie, I love you,” recalled his sister.

“I got a hug that Valentine’s Day, I got a big hug,” recounts his mother.  “I just wrapped my arms around him and held him and hugged him…didn’t know that would be the last hug I was going to get.”

It was Tyrone’s girlfriend Margarita that discovered he hadn’t come. She awoke to find his side of the bed empty and knew something was wrong.

Their worst fears were confirmed within a few hours.  Margarita recounts, “I was upstairs in his room, and the…I can’t really describe it, the scream…I heard his mom scream, and I ran, I almost fell down the stairs onto his mom.”

A man, dressed in dark clothes stood in the front doorway. “He didn’t belong, you know? He wasn’t a friend of the family, he didn’t look like anybody…he wasn’t supposed to be there.  The memory of Roberta’s scream- a wail of maternal agony- is something Margarita will never forget; “I have dreams about that scream,” she told me.

“All I could say was ‘no, not my son, not my son,’” said Roberta.  “I just couldn’t believe it.  Who would do that to him?”

The “who” and “why” questions hang over Tyrone’s family and friends.  They all feel that someone knows something.

It was through my experiences writing about Tyrone I began to realize we as a community are disconnected emotionally from the impact of death and violence in our neighborhoods.  It’s news.  It’s statistics.  It’s sad and unfortunate, but unless you know the victim, it’s not personal.

At some point along the line, I stopped really caring.  It was hard for me to admit that to myself.  I thought I was concerned, I thought I was outraged even.  But did I care?  No.

Was I really seeing the impact of violence- and not just on a family, but a community? No.

Tyrone gave me fresh eyes and ears.  I started looking at the facts of youth, gun and gang violence, as well as the laws, policies and agencies involved.  I looked to the mainstream media and found that coverage on the issues tended to be one dimensional.

Details on the lives of the victims were so full of sensationalism and stereotypes, we’ve begun to question whether they are victims at all, or whether by lifestyle or social status, they deserved what happened to them.  Shame on us.

With my reinvigorated perspective, I’ve done what any other self respecting internet savvy writer would do: start a website dedicated to examining youth, gun and gang violence in the greater Seattle area.

Young Guns, Stolen Lives (aka The 2010 Project) will cover violent crimes impacting our youth/community, and the investigative and judicial processes while also giving tribute to the lives of those taken.

It will follow and inform the community on the legislation, policies and programs created by grassroots efforts or elected officials on the city, county and state level which impact the safety and well-being of our communities and our children, such as Mayor McGinn’s new Youth and Family Initiative.

My hope is that by providing a place which ties all the variables together we can all begin to better understand violence in our communities.

Last week we saw the horrific video of a 15 year old girl beaten unconscious by another teenager in the Metro Tunnel at Westlake.  While it was shocking, it was reminder that such violence is becoming more commonplace and can occur at anytime, anywhere.

A website can’t stop a bullet.  But what it can do is help us all to refrain from oversimplifying violence in our communities by providing facts and resources and by giving a little context to the lives of those killed.

Barely a day goes by that I don’t think about Tyrone Love and his family.  It’s bitter sweet, but if not for him, I wonder when my perspective would have changed.  Because of him, I have found a way to do my part.  I hope you find a way to do yours.

Info for the T Love Benefit Party and Concert can be found here

We watched, dumbfounded and outraged as three security guards contracted by the county stood right next to the altercation and did nothing- hell they did less than nothing, if that’s possible.

Metro was actually paying a private security company to provide guards that didn’t actually perform as security guards.

Instead, they were paid to “observe and report”.  Nothing more.

I can’t imagine what it would be like to get my ass kicked while the very people I thought were there to help me literally turned their backs and did nothing.

It makes you wonder what else has been observed and reported by metro security.  What else have they’ve just sat by and watched happen?

Once the video was out the County moved quickly to order a review and change the contract with the security company.  Now guards can intervene when they witness these kinds of incidents.

I’m not impressed with the change.  Metro knew this incident happened for weeks- but only took action once the video went public.  They waited.

I’m not impressed with the rent-a-cop arrangement either.  We have a comprehensive public transit system without comprehensive safety measures.

As it stands, if an assault happens on a Metro bus it might be a city beat cop who responds, a Metro security guard or a member of the Metro Police Department.

That right, Metro does have its own police department- sort of.  Metro PD is a part of the County Sheriff’s office. It even has its own Chief, a guy you’ve probably never heard of, Dave Jutilla.

There are just 47 members of the Metro PD from the Chief, to bike cops, detectives, deputies and investigators.  That’s like having 1 officer for every 44 square miles of the roughly 21,000 square mile county, or one officer for ever 27 vehicles of Metro’s 1300 vehicle fleet.

Compare that to the Seattle Police Department.  Seattle is about 88 square miles.  According to our friends over at Seattle Crime, the police department employs about 1300 officers, half of which are uniformed officers.

As if Metro police weren’t already stretched painfully thin- along comes light rail.

According to Chief Jutilla, to meet the additional demand they “realigned our workforce and hired additional security guards to support these new services.”

Translation: They weren’t given more funding to hire more cops, so they reassigned the ones they had.  That probably means they reduced coverage in other areas, increased over time and are relying even more on contracted rent-a-cops.

That isn’t a solution.

What we have here is a greater disaster waiting to happen.  Metro PD should operate as its own entity, separate from the Sheriff’s office, with the budget and resources required to make sure the county has dedicated first responders on every Metro line- including the tunnel.

It would be naive of us to think that the incident with the 15 year old girl was the first of its kind- it wasn’t.  There are assaults, robberies, thefts, vandalism and other crimes committed on metro buses, in the tunnel and park & rides every day.

The only difference is this one was caught on camera.

Calvin Johnson, who coached the Cleveland Eagles for 30 seasons, died this past weekend at the age of 60.

According to Seattle Schools:

“Mr. Johnson began his teaching career with Seattle Public Schools in 1972 as P.E. teacher at Dunlap Elementary. He moved to Cleveland High School as P.E. teacher in 1976 and retired in 2009.

His coaching record was legendary, coaching the Eagles to eight basketball state-tournament appearances in 30 years, including a second-place finish in 1979. He retired as boys’ basketball coach after the 2007-08 school year.”

Former Student Shermaine Singleton was shocked and saddened to learn of Johnson’s death.  “[He was] a great man of character, wisdom, truth, love and respect.  He…believed in pursuing higher education.  He spent so much time explaining to me the valuable lessons of life.  He never gave up on me, even when I wanted to give up on myself.  For this alone, I am truly grateful and will never, ever forget him.”

Michael Torrey, who attended both Dunlap and Cleveland, graduated in 1986.  The love for his former coach, mentor and father figure (to thousands of alumni) is evident; he speaks with passion and commitment to his alma matter.

“Who was the man behind the whistle? That’s the question Seattle needs to find out,” he says matter-of-factly. “There’s more to the man, than what people know.

“He was the assistant football coach for a time, and the head basketball coach for 30 years; He was a PE teacher to all of us, a mentor to most of us, and a father figure for the rest of us.  He pulled us aside and reminded us the importance of, not just being a good athlete, but also as growing young men to make good decisions, smart decisions- and to get that education, he was a stickler about education.

“It didn’t matter how good [of an athlete] you were, if you didn’t have your grades where they needed to be, you need to go see him.  That mean you might not be suiting up [to play].  He was definitely an advocate for education.

“A lot of the students went back to Cleveland, just to say hi, to see how he was doing, to update him on how they were progressing in life.  He never forgot a student, he never forgot a face, and he always welcomed you with open arms- that hand automatically came out to shake yours.”

Michael reconnected with Coach Johnson in 2007 when Cleveland was under renovations.  While the school was temporarily relocated to West Seattle, someone broke in and stole the basketball uniforms.

“He was really disappointed,” Torrey recalls, “he figured it was a student that did it.”

The uniforms were never recovered, but Torrey and others quickly gave cash donations to replace them. “That was my way of giving back to someone who poured out his heart and soul for all of us.”

Coach Johnson was known for going above and beyond for his students, using his own money to cover the cost of shoes, school supplies, or pay for lunch for students in need.

“He realized, ‘If I don’t reach and out and let this kid know that somebody cares, they may fall through the cracks- and he’s touched more than 20 thousand lives- easily…easily.”

Torrey is working to get the word out to Cleveland alumni about Coach Johnson’s passing.  “Whether or not he coached you, that man had a lasting effect on the students that crossed the doorway of Cleveland High School.”

He wants former students to attend the funeral, scheduled for Saturday January 30th.  Not just to pay last respects, but also to honor Coach Johnson’s wife and children.

“Coaching is not just the 1 person, the whole family is involved. He sacrificed quality time in a marriage and family to coach us.  We had games late at night, games out of town, it took a lot of time. It’s time for us to say ‘thank you’ to her. Thank you for sharing your husband, your loved one, with all of us over the years.  We owe her that.”

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 30 at 10:00 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Church, 820 18^th Ave., Seattle 98122.

Dear SV Blog Readers,

Right now our community is suffering an urgent crisis- the murder and criminalization of our children- it has ricocheted to nearly every corner of the village; fueled by blood, inconsiderate of its destruction…showing no sign of slowing down.

Throughout 2009 I began to use the Sable Verity blog to raise awareness about youth violence and its impact.  Mainstream media constantly fails to portray those who have been murdered in a holistic manner, but instead, exacerbate stereotypes and generalities which diminish their young lives in a very real way.  Too many people shrug off the deaths of young Black men and women as inevitable or even deserved, based on the media portrayal of the victims lifestyles- factual or not.

What we know as concerned community members, as outreach workers, volunteers, parents, aunts and uncles, coaches, teachers, neighbors and mentors, is that these kids were each special, each talented, each loved.  None deserved to die. None should be forgotten.

While I took a lot of time last year to write about youth violence, it wasn’t nearly enough to keep up with all of the shootings, criminal investigations, judicial processes, and tell the stories of all of those we’ve lost.

Young Guns, Stolen Lives (aka The 2010 Project) will be hosted on the Sable Verity Blog through December.  It will cover violent crimes impacting our youth/community, investigative and judicial processes and other efforts, while also giving tribute to the lives of those taken.

It seems we all know someone who has lost someone- because we are all connected, all impacted.  The lives of the deceased are never found in court documents or daily newspapers; they are in the community- in former teachers and coaches, neighbors and playmates, siblings and parents- in you and in me.

Young Guns, Stolen Lives will follow and inform the community on legislation, policies and programs created by grassroots efforts or  elected officials on the city, county and state level which impact the safety and well-being of our communities and our children, such as Mayor McGinn’s new safe communities initiative, The Aaron Sullivan Assault Weapons Ban, and State cuts to the Department of Corrections (which ended community supervision for 10,000 offenders) as examples.

This is the goal for 2010. I need your help to make it happen.

A project of this kind has never been undertaken before- It will require hours of research to present the facts truthfully.  While I bring tremendous passion for this project, I need your help to bring it to fruition.

The website upgrades to host this project and the costs of research (through December) will be about $3000.00.

You trust The Sable Verity to bring you the truth and shed a light on issues impacting our communities.  Please support this work with a contribution.

Suggested donation levels are $100, $75, $50 and $25.

You can also sign up to give a small contribution each month; you must let me know you prefer this option so I can sign you up for monthly reminders. Just reply to this email if this is the option you prefer.

I have set up a paypal account for your convenience- it does not require that you have a paypal account, just follow the directions on the donation page for alternative payment methods.

To make your contribution, click here.

Together, we can bring this bloodshed to an end, but in order to confront the truth, we need to know the truth. Thank you for joining me to bring these stories to light.

Warmest Regards,

Sable Verity

Like most things in the district, building maintenance is a huge mess- just look at the half a billion dollar backlog in work for proof.  How is it SPS has at least 3 pots of money it can use for building maintenance, yet it can’t keep up?  Should voters see this as a need for more money or a sign of mismanagement? I have my opinions and I hope you educate yourselves before you cast your ballot.

Last year I interviewed Melissa Westbrook to talk about the state of SPS- we touched on the levy quite a bit.  Since then Westbrook has put together some straightforward (and startling) info on the facts about the upcoming Levy.  Here it is.  You may want to take an antacid now…

BTA III Levy Issues – Levy Election February 9, 2010 for a $270M levy

Background

• Seattle Public Schools has 116 buildings (this includes open, closed and interim).    Almost half of them are at least 50 years old or older.
• Funds for maintaining and repairing/renovating these buildings come from two places: the Operations budget and the Capital budget.
• Basic maintenance comes under the Operations budget.  The Maintenance budget is just about $9M.  OSPI, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, recommends about 2% of the Operating budget for maintenance and SPS is spending under 1%.
• Major system replacement (HVAC, seismic upgrades, roofs, windows) comes from the BTA levy while renovations and building upgrades come from the BEX levy, both of which are part of the Capital budget.
• BTA stands for B (buildings), T (technology) and Academics/Athletics.   It has become a catch-all levy for the district.
• BEX stands for Building Excellence.  This is our renovation/rebuild/building upgrade levy.   Started in 1992, the levy has done work on over 39 buildings throughout the district.

Today

• However, despite these three funding sources for buildings, the district has backlogged maintenance of nearly $500M.
• The district says that the reason we have this backlog is because voters turned back one levy 4 times in the ‘90s.  This did occur, however, the major reason for the backlog is that the district and its leadership – superintendents and Board members– simply decided to spend less on basic maintenance even after they lost ground when the levies failed.
• The head of Maintenance, Mark Pflueger, has a plan to start on the backlogged basic maintenance but neither the Board nor the Superintendent have given him direction or money to enact it.
• SPS is spent $18.6M in 1979 on basic maintenance.  Today, the budget is $8.3M with about the same number of buildings.
• The district is reopening 5 previously closed buildings which increases the number of buildings online.

BTA III Levy

• The BTA III levy is for $270M.   The “B” in the levy for buildings is about 51% or about $137M.  Of that $137M, nearly $50M will go to reopen 5 closed buildings.    Schools that have been waiting for maintenance and repairs will have to wait longer as these schools will receive their levy money first.
• The BTA levy will barely make a dent in the backlogged maintenance.  District staff said this at a Board Work Session last year. We cannot “levy” our way out of this backlog and district leadership has no plan to do so.

Where does this leave us?

• From the Facilities Management Plan, “Further deterioration will occur if the backlog is not reduced, and the ultimate cost of correcting the deficiencies will increase.” Simply put, taxpayers will pay more because the district does not do enough basic maintenance on our buildings.
• From the Operations Audit done in 2009:  “The district’s General Fund budget does not support maintenance and repair needs as recommended in the Facilities Master Plan.”
• Leadership will tell you the money went into the classroom.  The problem is that a safe and solid physical classroom is part of a good classroom. If the water and air quality isn’t good and the building isn’t seismically sound, all the great teaching in the world won’t matter.

This is a false economy that is crippling our district’s ability to move forward. We need change now to work on the buildings in poor condition AND protect the multi-millions we have spent on new buildings. If those nice, new, buildings aren’t maintained, do we honestly believe they will be decent buildings in 20, 25, 30 years given this underfunding of maintenance?

The district needs to:

Commit to raising the funding for basic maintenance

Provide clear lines of accountability via detailed public accounting of capital funds spent on BEX and BTA on a bi-annual basis

Lastly –

Seattle Times December 7, 1995

“He (Superintendent John Stanford) acknowledged, though, that if given a choice he would have kept the maintenance levy in the package and deferred the $75 million technology plan. The district has a major maintenance backlog of such things as roofs and heating-system replacements of about $185 million.”  (italics mine)

If John Stanford was worried about this in 1995,

why isn’t district leadership in 2010?

Other quotes about this issue:

From the District’s own Facilities Master Plan:

“Increased funding of the “B” portion of the BTA levy would help resolve a lack of funding, a severe reduction in maintenance staffing couple with a backlog of maintenance work orders when there has not been a significant reduction in the number of buildings, and construction materials inflation.”

Seattle Times December 18, 1990

The consultant’s report said the absence of preventive-maintenance planning is costing the district millions of dollars in major reconstruction costs because upkeep has not been steady or planned.

Seattle Times November 2, 1994

No districtwide, systematic program for preventive maintenance exists, said Ed Heller, acting director of maintenance, custodial and grounds services.

(Note: the current head of Maintenance, Mark Pflueger told a Board committee that all his department does “is put out fires.”)

About Melissa Westbrook

“I am a long-time Seattle Public Schools parent with my last child graduating this year from Roosevelt High School.   I have served in almost every PTA position possible over the years with my last service as co-president of the Roosevelt High School PTSA from 2007-2009.  As well, I have been an education activist in our city in both promoting public education as well as being a watchdog over our district.  I served on the School Board’s Closure and Consolidation Committee 3 years ago that helped to determine the first SPS buildings closed in over 20 years.  I currently write for the Seattle education blog, Save Seattle Schools (http://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/), and continue to be active in our district.”

Only this one was different. 

A Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton was shot multiple times and killed as he sat in his patrol car with a student officer.

Witnesses heard about 10 shots from the assailant’s gun.  The rookie officer stumbled from the car and returned fire- while the officer that had taken so much care to train her sat dead just a few feet away.

Over the past two years Seattle has seen an uptick in brazen shootings, some gang related, some not.  Most have gone without arrest or prosecution. 

We all know though- this one is different.  It just is. 

People were trying to figure out urgently if it was someone they knew.  I was on the phone, texts, emails, websites for hours, sifting through the reports and trying to piece together what was going.  It took about 3 hours to determine the victim was not a Black woman, but a male, race unknown (at the time).

Speculation was broad- mostly because people (like me) couldn’t believe that this had happened.  Think about it.  10:00 on a Saturday night, Halloween night at that- and someone just rolls up on a police car and opens fire?  Who does that?  Who does that in Seattle?!  Just wrapping my brain around that has been a lot to contend with.

Whoever carried out this crime was seemingly meticulous in doing so- it was planned- and police were the target, there’s no doubt.  The killers drove up along side the car and fired in, but they didn’t continue in the direction their car was facing.  instead they turned around and went in the other direction.  Why?  Likely because they didn’t want to be seen on the police dash mounted camera.  That points to premeditation in my mind.

For now- they’ve gotten away with murder.  I for one, am outraged this has happened. 

It seems a select few in the community just can’t resist making their shitteous comments and pushing their fringe beliefs- as if this the time for it.  For that, I am disgusted.

The morning after the shooting I woke up to seeing facebook statuses and tweets on twitter posted by people who seem to think that it’s okay to gun down police, or that the officers deserve what happened to them simply because they’re police.

Well I have a message for those people: you’re idiots.  STFU and sit down.

Yes, it is a fact that all police departments across the entire country, have issues.  Yes, there are police officers who are jerks, who use their position to intimidate and harass those in the community.  Yes, racial profiling is an issue, yes, we have situations of excessive force more often than is ever proved in the administrative process, and yes, we’ve seen law enforcement shoot and kill people in the community and “get away with it”.

What does that have to do with the father of two who was brutally murdered sitting in his squad car and talking to another officer?  What does that have to do with anything?

Are we saying that all police officers are bad?  Is that really what we’re saying here?  Because they’re a cop, they’re bad and they deserve harm to come to them- right?  A Seattle police officer has never done anything good, ever- right? 

We don’t like it when people reduce our murdered youth to “gang members” who “should expect that to happen to them”- so we shouldn’t do that to the police either.

Don’t lecture me about police being a gang of their own.  Don’t lecture me about the problems between officers on the street and the community.  It has nothing to do with a man being murdered.

There are community members that have valid concerns about the immediate aftermath and how it’s playing out in the streets.  Police are in the CD (and so. end) in force, and they are taking every opportunity to talk to people they can get.  There is obvious tension in the air.  If I had a son over the age of 13 he wouldn’t be out without me at his side right now, because everyone is a potential suspect and everyone is a potential witness- even if only after the fact.    I understand why people have concern about police conduct right now, and worrying that someone else might get hurt in the scramble to find who did this- people are saying the police need to step back and work with cooler heads.  I couldn’t agree more.

Is that a luxury they have?  *shrug*  We don’t have enough cops on the force now, so those who responded Saturday night and saw what had been done to their colleague- yeah they’re on the streets now- and there’s no one there to relieve them.  So yeah, we hope a cop doesn’t snap and snatch someone the hell up- or worse- while they work to pinpoint suspects.

Should that really worry us more than the fact that there is a killer out there somewhere?  Someone brazen enough to attempt let alone pull off such an attack?  We can’t just be worried about the police in this aftermath, we need to worry just as much about everyone else.  Am I standing in line at the grocery store next to a murderer?  And not just someone who killed a police officer, what about all the other unsolved murders?  Where are those killers?  People are more concerned about watching how the police act, but show no concern over who did this- and the fact that they haven’t been caught.  Why don’t we push for that?  We do when one of our own get’s killed, so why not now?

Seattle, we have a serious problem!

The cops are on edge right.  But we got some snarky folks in the community who use their teaspoon of influence just to dig the knife and talk about a murder as if it could be justified or explained away. That’s not helping. 

One thing is for sure, if this case goes unsolved, things are only going to get worse. 

By the way, if you haven’t been over to www.seattlecrime.com yet, they’ve posted a short transcript of the initial radio call for help.  I suggest you read it a few times, and think about what you would have done if you would have been sitting in that car.

(0:00) Sweeney: Shots fired, 29^th and Yesler!

(0:06) Dispatcher: Is there a unit calling radio?

(0:15) Officer 1: I believe she said I-5 north of yesler

(0:19) Operator: 3 george 13?

(0:22) Sweeney: [sobs]

(0:24) Operator: 3 George 13? I map George 13, I show her at 29 and E yesler way, if units could [surge?] that way

(0:37) Sweeney: Help. Shots fired [sobs]

(0:42) Sweeney: My partner’s dead.

(0:44) Dispatcher: I need units to 29 and East Yesler

(0:47) Officer 2: Edward 32’s on his way [Siren]

(1:00) Officer 1: 3 George en route

(1:08) Sweeney: Help me.

(1:13) Dispatcher: Help the officer 29 and E Yesler

(1:24) Sweeney: I need medical

(1:38) Officer 1: George 31 arriving

(2:01) Officer 1: George 33, we’ve got officer down. We need more, uh, we need fire here now.

(2:08) Dispatcher: Fire’s on the way.

end

The memorial service for Officer Timothy Brenton is scheduled for Friday, November 6th at 1:00 p.m. at the Key Arena.
The Seattle Police Department is in the process of establishing a bank account for Officer Brenton’s family.  More information about that will be available soon.

Tips can be made anonymously to Crime Stoppers at (206) 343-2020, or through a text message by texting TIP486 with a message, then sending that to 274637 (CRIMES).  I should mention that tips can be made about any of the unsolved murders, not just this one. 

See something, say something.  Stop the violence.

Who is Mike McGinn?

[audio http://sableverity.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/who-is-mcginn.mp3]

Change, “new politics” and the decision to run for Mayor (and not city council)

[audio http://sableverity.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/mcginn-decides-to-run-for-mayor.mp3]

Future Seattle- and a look back at the Welfare Queen (hey gurl!)… and Van Jones, too

[audio http://sableverity.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/future-seattle.mp3]

That darn tunnel option- and all the semantics that come along with it

[audio http://sableverity.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/tunnel-awv.mp3]

Seattle Schools- Mike has been running with Education as one of his main pillars- so what is he really prepared to do?

I also asked him about the same levy program scenario that I asked Mallahan in his interview.

pt1

[audio http://sableverity.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/mcginn-edu-pt-1.mp3]

Pt 2

[audio http://sableverity.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/mcginn-edu-pt-2.mp3]

Pt 3

[audio http://sableverity.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/mcginn-edu-pt-3.mp3]

McGinn discusses the pros and cons of the current Youth Violence Prevention Initiative

[audio http://sableverity.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/mcginn-on-yvpi.mp3]

McGinn on his [former] non-profit “Great City”

Pt. 1

[audio http://sableverity.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/mcginn-great-city-pt-1.mp3]

Pt. 2

[audio http://sableverity.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/mcginn-great-city-pt-2.mp3]

McGinn on Equity

[audio http://sableverity.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/mcginn-on-equity.mp3]

There you have it.  Mike McGinn [finally] in his own words.

My impression?  As I said after the Mallahan interview, you don’t need me to tell you who to vote for, so I’m not going to do that here.

I’m planning on comparing/contrasting my experiences is a later post, so I’m not going to get into too much detail here, but I will say that I was very surprised at McGinn’s reaction and answer to my question of what his personal working definition of “equity” is.  As you no doubt notice throughout the interview, we were discussing topics where equity is an issue in Seattle.

The first thing he said was “whoa”.  What I asked for was a definition but his answer was more of a vision of a perfect society, and not a personal belief system or one that he can extend to the management and leadership of a city.  Equity is an issue.  Yes, everyone should have a nice car, yes, everyone should have a great school to go to- but they don’t.

Mallahan’s answer wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but it has substance- he too thought about it when in the moment and gave an answer that had to do with how to ensure equity.

I mean, if you can’t define equity can you define inequities?

It’s clear that McGinn has a lot of pride in what he has accomplished personally and professionally, and in his community, which is north Seattle.  It’s why I asked him about the organization he started, “Great City”, and he mentioned it more than once in our discussion.

What has great cities done in south Seattle?  It sounded to me as if he was saying that they wanted to outreach south and they wanted to be utilized by neighborhoods with great needs…but I never got a list or an example of one, which is just more of an observation and not a condemnation.