The Spectator
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Sy Bean | The Spectator
Sahra Osman, representing the Somali community, celebrates after delivering a speech at the Yesler Community Center on Saturday, Jan. 28. The Somali community has not experienced any major problems involving crime recently. |
The Friday night shooting of a 20-year-old on 13th Avenue and Jefferson Street set the stage for an afternoon meeting in YeslerTerrace.
At the third Yesler Terrace Community meeting since November, community members spoke out against crime like the Friday night shooting.
Some of the solutions proposed included recruiting Seattle University students to volunteer as interpreters for the community where an estimated 26 different languages are spoken. Others included ways to confront the crimes by hosting parties or dinner in "neighborhood problem areas," as well as a workshop to help the residents learn the importance of dialing 911.
Angela O'Brien, co-chair of the safety committee, said that she is "tired of griping and complaining."
She wants solutions.
O'Brien explained that prostitution, drug and gang activity, shootings and stabbings are all part of the living inYesler Terrace.
Sometimes community members witness crimes but do not report them to the police because of a distrust of the police. In some cases this distrust finds its roots in the experiences of first generation immigrants in their country of birth.
"In Somalia they never dial 911," O'Brien said in reference to one of the prominent nationalities of the area. "If they do, they are likely to never show up at home the next day."
That's why community education is so important. Many people don't know that 911 operators give the choice to callers of being anonymous, asking the police not to come to their houses and asking for an interpreter in order to report the crimes.
Judy Carter, the city property manager of the neighborhood, reported to the audience that Yesler Terrace Community lost an estimated $2 million grant because of a lack of statistics pointing towards the area's high crime rate.
The police patrol neighborhoods where they receive the most 911 calls.
Without the statistics or police reports, Seattle Police only allot one police officer to patrol areas and this only occurs during daylight hours.
O'Brien stumbled upon the crime issue when meeting with the Seattle School Board. A board member reported to her that the Yesler Terrace neighborhood children were performing poorly in their school because of the environments created at home by parents.
"When I heard this I rolled my eyes," O'Brien said.
Adamant that this was not the case, O'Brien set out to find the true reason for the poor school performance of the neighborhood children; she hypothesized that it was the crime rate of the neighborhood.
"It's hard to learn when you're scared to walk in your neighborhood," she said.
The meeting ended with the suggestion to keep a look out for crimes and connect more as neighborhood in order to combat the crime issues.
"We need more involvement in the neighborhood," said Carter, "because we are a community that can be safe."
Katie may be reached at [email protected]