2007_MET_LISC_aesthetics

Curbing Crime, One Street At A Time
HomeSight and the Seattle Police Department
Blight breeds crime and crime
breeds blight. This cyclical reality
isattherootofsomanychallenges
faced by urban neighborhoods
and the residents, community
organizations and public agencies
seeking to improve them.
Since the articulation of the “broken win-
dow theory” by George Kelling and James
Q. Wilson in the early 1980s, criminologists
and law enforcement professionals have
examined and debated the links between
disorder, fear and criminal activity. Many
today believe—as Kelling and Wilson
suggested—that broken windows, trash,
unchecked panhandling and other signs
of neglect create an environment in which
serious crime can and will flourish.
Thousands of community leaders across
the country observe this phenomenon on a
daily basis and take it as a call to action. By
cleaning up their neighborhoods and root-
ing out signs of disorder, they are improv-
ing local quality of life and sending clear
signals that crime will not be tolerated. As
a result, many have contributed to mea-
surable reductions in serious crime, par-
ticularly when their efforts are coordinated
with strategic law enforcement.
This emphasis on making aesthetic
improvements to help influence crime pat-
terns was the inspiration for the “Curb-
ing Crime, One Street at a Time” project
in Southeast Seattle—winner of a 2007
MetLife Foundation Community-Police
Partnership Award. A community develop-
ment corporation called HomeSight, resi-
dent leaders in the Rainer Othello Safety
Association (ROSA) and the Seattle Police
Department (SPD) teamed up to improve
the appearance of their neighborhood
through a variety of maintenance, infra-
structure and artistic projects.
The results have been remarkable. Not
only has there been a dramatic improve-
ment in the visual appearance of the
neighborhood, but also drug-related crime
has dropped by 20 percent. Residents now
report increased confidence in the police
department and a greater sense of pride
and ownership for their neighborhood.
Over time, the partners have created for-
mal structures for collaboration that help
them to tackle new problems as they arise.
Their work has paved the way for long-
term revitalization.
special strategy award: Community Aesthetics
Volunteers conduct clean-ups and safety walks on a regular basis to contribute to beautification and
crime prevention efforts in Rainier-Othello. This group gathered for NeighborWorks Week.
This publication is part of a series published by
the Local Initiatives Support Corporation’s Com-
munity Safety Initiative as part of the MetLife
Foundation Community-Police Partnership
Awards program. Sponsored by MetLife Foun-
dation since 2002, the Awards celebrate and
promote exemplary community safety strate-
gies bolstered by collaboration between police
and neighborhood leaders. LISC and MetLife
Foundation believe that public safety is an inte-
gral component of building strong and healthy
communities. Law enforcement and commu-
nity building—from economic development to
youth programs to neighborhood beautification
efforts—yield greater benefits for neighborhoods
when they are strategically integrated. For more
information about LISC or the MetLife Foundation
Community-Police Partnership Awards, please
visit www.lisc.org. For more information about
the Foundation, please visit www.metlife.com.
2007 MetLife Foundation
Community-Police Partnership Awards

2 MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Award Winner 2007 / special strategy award: Community Aesthetics
Southeast Seattle
Context
Southeast Seattle is one of the city’s most
culturally and economically diverse neigh-
borhoods. The community is home to a
large immigrant and minority population
with over fifty languages and dialects spo-
ken. HomeSight describes the neighbor-
hood as a place where “it is not uncommon
to observe a woman draped in a burqua
pass a man in traditional Orthodox Jewish
garb on the street.”
Despite the area’s relative harmony
among its different ethnic and religious
groups, drug- and gang-related crimes have
permeated the community for years, which
presents a challenge for law enforcement
and community members alike.
“The Rainier Valley is one of the most
active precincts in Seattle because there are
a lot of drugs and gang activity that occur
there. Plus there’s a conflict between the
gang turf and some of the new resident
groups who have moved into the commu-
nity and are right in the middle of it,” said
Sergeant Cindy Granard from the South
Precinct Community Police Team.

Many businesses and potential investors
avoided the neighborhood for years due to
high crime and the risks it posed to peo-
ple and physical assets. While the promise
of a new light rail station connecting the
neighborhood to downtown has yielded a
spike in investor interest, the same strug-
gling businesses still occupy commercial
storefronts at the heart of the neighbor-
hood amidst rampant open-air drug deal-
ing. Even some of the most active resident
leaders have felt forced to move due to fear
for their children’s well-being and frustra-
tion that disorder remained evident.
Getting Started with
Analysis and Organizing
In 2003, HomeSight knew that crime was
hampering its development efforts, so it
deployed its Community Safety Initiative
(HomeSight CSI) to study and map the
neighborhood’s crime “hotspots”. With
data and technical assistance from law
enforcement, HomeSight CSI identified the
intersection of Rainier Street and Othello
Street as a principal hotspot for neighbor-
hood crime. The crime-mapping project
also identified several nuisance businesses
where active drug trading coexisted with
legitimate uses.
While HomeSight CSI worked on this
mapping project, neighborhood residents
like Sarah Valenta were already organiz-
ing community meetings to discuss ways to
combat local crime. “We knew there was a
problem so we started a Block Watch group,
but it was hard to get organized initially,”
remembers Valenta. “Then we found out
that HomeSight CSI had identified our
neighborhood as a hotspot and we started
working together with them.”
With its map data, HomeSight CSI was
able to provide residents with specific infor-
mation about crime locations. As a result,
residents began to see crime as something
that could be isolated and addressed as a
localized problem, rather than as an intrac-
table and omnipresent obstacle. The fight
to reclaim the neighborhood from crime
had begun.
Capitalizing on Diverse
Strengths
Armed with crime-mapping data, the
community decided to formalize its regu-
lar meetings. They created the Rainier
Othello Safety Association, or ROSA,
which would address local crime problems
using the resources of HomeSight CSI and
the South Precinct’s Community Police
Team (CPT). The CPT and its lead offi-
cer, Sergeant Granard, quickly recognized
ROSA as a natural ally at a time when law
enforcement desperately needed help from
the community.
“From my perspective, we were really
short-staffed, and we ended up having to
triage the complaints that came in,” said
Sergeant Granard. “It was frustrating for
me to listen to residents’ stories and not
HomeSight’s work with the Seattle Police Department and Weed & Seed generated hot spot maps that
informed strategic decision-making. (Courtesy HomeSight and Seattle Police Department.)
With its map data, HomeSight CSI was able to provide
residents with specific information about crime locations.
As a result, residents began to see crime as something that
could be isolated and addressed as a localized problem,
rather than as an intractable and omnipresent obstacle.

MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Award Winner 2007 / special strategy award: Community Aesthetics 3
have an officer immediately available to
respond.”
While law enforcement recognized the
importance of partnering with community,
the community group was initially skeptical
of partnering with law enforcement. Would
they respect community members? Would
they let residents lead the joint effort at
crime prevention? Essentially, would they
make effective partners?
Sarah Valenta remembers her initial
doubts. “There was skepticism [among the
community members] about authority in
general, and a lack of understanding about
what the police really do,” said Valenta. “If
you don’t look into it more or aren’t open
to it, you might think that the police are
there as authority figures, to tell you what
to do. But that’s not the case.”
From the law enforcement perspective,
Sergeant Granard acknowledged these
concerns. She also made it clear that the
CPT valued its partnership with the com-
munity and viewed it as an essential com-
ponent of police work. “Law enforcement
personnelareareflectionof thecommunity
we serve. An officer must be open to work-
ing with community members and also be
creative and flexible. One day you arrest
a really dangerous person and put him or
her in jail. Another day, you participate in
unconventional or non-traditional activities
like picking up garbage or stenciling drains
around businesses with pollution runoff
to heighten the public’s awareness. That’s
part of the job too,” she said. “Regardless,
we need the community’s help, and we need
to work as a team. And like with any team,
the more diverse and more comprehensive
your team is, the better results you’ll have.
Because the goal is the same – to make it a
better, safer, more livable community.”
To formulate their crime fighting plan,
ROSA, HomeSight CSI and the Commu-
nity Police Team met frequently to share
expertise and knowledge about the neigh-
borhood and strategies for crime preven-
tion. They quickly recognized the power
of their partnership and how much they
benefited from each other’s complemen-
tary skills.
For example, the Community Police
Team brought knowledge of crime preven-
tion techniques, including experience with
Crime Prevention Through Environmen-
tal Design, or CPTED, as well as access
to additional public agencies and fund-
ing. ROSA brought a detailed knowledge
of the neighborhood, a strong network of
residents and the energy to organize public
events and regular meetings. HomeSight
CSI supported the partnership by bringing
its organizational capacity and experience
with pursuing grants and other financial
resources.
Linking Improved
Aesthetics to Safety
Together, the groups decided to address
crime through targeted physical improve-
ments to the neighborhood—a local appli-
cation of the Broken Window Theory
advanced by Kelling and Wilson. Like
any community organization, ROSA and
HomeSight were working with a small bud-
get, so Sergeant Granard and the Commu-
nity Police Team used their knowledge of
CPTED to identify small-scale projects that
would have significant crime-prevention
impacts.
One Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design project
involved the redesign of a bus stop that was a haven for illicit
activity. Repositioning the shelter and adding a new artistic
design helped neutralize the crime problem. (Photos courtesy of
the Seattle Police Department.)
The HomeSight/ROSA partners led several
projects to curb streets in Rainier-Othello where
trash and sidewalk parking contributed to a sense
of disorder. The new curbs have improved pedes-
trian safety while beautifying the area.

One of these projects was the redesign
of a bus shelter that had faced away from the
street, inadvertently creating a concealed
space for drug trading and prostitution.
Rather than opening onto the sidewalk,
the reconfigured shelter now opens onto
the street and can be easily monitored by
pedestrians, motorists and police officers.
ROSA and its partners have also raised
funds to add streetscape amenities at the
intersection of Rainier and Othello, includ-
ing planters, banners and a community
news kiosk designed by a local artist.
Perhaps the most successful physical
improvement, however, was the curbing
of a nearby residential street where drivers
routinely parked their cars on the sidewalk,
and where debris accumulated in the grassy
gulley between the street and sidewalk. The
curbing resulted in different parking pat-
terns, which in turn caused traffic to move
slower and increased physical safety for
both pedestrians and motorists. The curbs
have also reduced litter while bolstering
residents’ sense of pride and ownership.
The results were so positive that ROSA was
successful in securing funds to expand the
curbing. Both sides of two parallel streets
now have newly installed curbs due to the
efforts of the program partners.
Creating a Sense of
Ownership Among
Residents
While physical improvements can dramati-
cally change the appearance and attitude
of a neighborhood, they are expensive and
often take several years to achieve. In an
effort to maintain neighborhood engage-
ment during the lengthy process, ROSA
organized frequent public events, including
resident-led Crime Walks. Once a month,
community members and law enforcement
walk the neighborhood streets together,
picking up litter while demonstrating their
commitment to enhancing public safety.
ROSA also organizes an annual “Bicy-
cle Safety Day” during which streets are
blocked to vehicular access so children and
other cyclists can bicycle safely around the
neighborhood. Community Police Team
Officers participate in the festivities along-
side their neighborhood partners.
Another public engagement project, the
2006 Othello Park Concert Series, drew
a crowd of over 500 people including the
Mayor of Seattle, and was repeated with
much success again in 2007. These events
successfully brought families into areas,
such as the park, that they traditionally
avoided due to safety concerns.
Community events like National Night Out provide opportunities for residents to celebrate their neighborhood and get to know neighbors and police officers.

One of the crime hotspots identified in the Rainier/Othello neigh-
borhood was a car wash business that also served as site for
drug sales. The owner and the owner’s family were invited to a
community meeting at the precinct. At the meeting, community
members provided their first-hand observations and passionate
testimony about the criminal activity that was emanating from
the car wash. The owner, who did not live in the city, promised
to look into it. After repeated follow-up attempts to the business
owner for cooperation and assistance, the partners had to try
other methods.
Law enforcement attempted to send in undercover officers, but
many of the drug dealers would only sell to known buyers. ROSA
members helped by documenting what they believed was illegal
activity, but much of it was taking place indoors. When none of
these methods were initially successful, the Community Police
Team sought out other ways to address the problems.
Another problem-solving strategy was to hold the car wash
accountable for standard code compliance, applicable to all local
businesses. “It didn’t seem right or equitable to the community
that the business owners and operators acted like they were or
should be exempt from their responsibilities. I began to wonder
if it was legal for them to wash cars in a paved parking lot?”
said Sergeant Granard. “I delegated one of my officers to con-
tact the Department of Ecology and other appropriate agencies
to research this issue.” When the answer came back that the
car wash’s practices were not code compliant, ROSA members
mobilized, upon a local code inspector’s request, and took pic-
tures of the run off and soap debris that was going into the main
storm drains.
Sergeant Granard also had another non-traditional idea. “I found
this guy who’s in charge of the salmon education program at
the Water Department, and I said hey, I heard you teach about
salmon, and this is what’s going on in our neighborhood. So
he came and gave us stenciling kits and provided information
about the dangers of pollution to our northwest salmon. And as
it turned out, the car wash was putting soap into an important
drainage system. This wasn’t acceptable because it was con-
taminating the salmon run.”
Then ROSA organized a community clean up and stenciled all of
the nearby drains with salmon stencils to heighten public aware-
ness. Soon, the business was cited for violating a drainage order
and had to purchase a piece of equipment to comply with the
citation. “The car wash got what they needed to stay in busi-
ness, and the community’s environment was improved by ROSA
members who made an educational statement with stencils,”
said Granard.
Recently, Seattle Police narcotic detectives obtained and served
two narcotic search warrants on the car wash. The county pros-
ecutor will be meeting with the car wash owner’s attorney to
discuss the illegal activity that is taking place on the premises.
While the Seattle
partners continue to
work on neighbor-
hood problems today,
they are coming
closer to their goal of
eliminating the illegal
activity and improving the appearance of the area. Their creative
partnerships and commitment to resource pooling has yielded
results that make both the residents and law enforcement
personnel proud.
“Community policing is working in partnership with interested
community members to do problem-solving.” Granard noted. “It
can be accomplished in a lot of different ways, from a combi-
nation of good old-fashioned police work arresting bad folks,
to code enforcement, community walks or whatever creative
way is needed to correct the problem situation.Working together
is the only solution and yes, we really are making a positive
difference.”
Spotlight: safety with salmon stencils
“Community policing is working in partnership with interested
community members to do problem-solving. It can be accomplished
in a lot of different ways ...Working together is the only solution.”
— Sergeant Granard, Seattle Police Department

By combining aesthetic improvements
and programming to send the message—
“Our neighborhood is safe if we make it
so!”—the ROSA, HomeSight CSI and
Seattle Police partners created a new image
and environment for the residents of Rain-
ier-Othello. The new kiosks, banners and
planters created a stronger sense of place,
which in turn encouraged residents to come
out and participate in community-oriented
events. The events fostered a sense of com-
munity while restoring ownership of the
parks and streets from drug dealers and
gangs to law-abiding community mem-
bers. Even though each of the individual
projects took its own approach to promot-
ing community safety, together, the projects
created something much greater than any
individual improvement—a sense of pride,
and an invitation for all residents to help
create a safer neighborhood.
Shared Resources
Foster Successful
Partnerships
ROSA’s efforts are supported by grants
from the City of Seattle, the Washington
Insurance Council’s SNAP Grant and the
Weed and Seed Community Enhancement
Fund. While much of the grant money
went toward physical improvements, some
of it also supported the work of law enforce-
ment. The Community Police Team used
their portion of the Weed and Seed funding
to hire off duty officers and to enlist help
from Department of Corrections officers
who worked overtime making numerous
contacts and arrests.
Sergeant Granard also enlisted help
from other city agencies, building a net-
work of local contacts from the Seattle Fire
othello hot spot crime incidents
Crime data shows the number of narcotics and other incidents increasing in the early years of the Seattle partners’ work, which
they attribute in large part to increased crime reporting as more residents became involved. As police acted on new information
and HomeSight/ROSA programming began to pay off, incidents decreased in most categories in 2006.
Even though each of the individual projects took its own
approach to promoting community safety, together, the
projects created something much greater than any individual
improvement—a sense of pride, and an invitation for all
residents to help create a safer neighborhood.
NUMBEROFINCIDENTS
TYPE OF INCIDENTS
Assault
Theft
Robbery
Vandalism
/Graffiti
W
eapons
Auto-related
Narcotics
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2003
2004
2005
2006

Department, the Seattle Department of
Transportation, the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency, Department of Planning
and Development and others. Through
the Community Police Team, ROSA could
access this network of professionals for
advice on crime-fighting projects—any-
thing from writing street-curbing proposals
and grants to finding ways to cite a nuisance
business for code violations. This network
continues to be one of law enforcement’s
most unique and valuable contributions to
ROSA’s efforts.
For their part, ROSA and HomeSight
provided a sense of purpose, a constant
flow of energy and volunteers and a valu-
able set of community organizing and
fundraising skills. In particular, HomeSight
hired Sarah Valenta as the program coor-
dinator for its Community Safety Initiative
– a significant commitment of resources on
the part of the organization. This move by
HomeSight freed Sarah to focus on com-
munity safety issues; this, in turn, laid the
groundwork for ROSA and made coordi-
nation of the partners’ many efforts that
much more feasible. HomeSight’s decision
to prioritize its CSI program with a dedi-
cated staff member also facilitated the grant
writing and other administrative work that
made this program so successful.
The bulk of the work, both on the
ground and in organizing and implement-
ing the program, was done by ROSA. But
ROSA member and HomeSight employee
Sarah Valenta attributes much of the part-
nership’s success to the enthusiasm and
open-mindedness of Sergeant Granard
and the Community Police Team Officers.
“They are remarkable people—and once
we actually sat down and talked to them,
we saw that they really wanted to work with
us not in an authoritative way, but as a part-
nership,” she said. “They encouraged us
take the lead, and it was really empowering.
I had never worked with police before, but
it was a happy, happy surprise.”
Today, the “Curbing Crime, One
Street at a Time” program has paved
the way for future partnerships between
community development groups and law
enforcement—a collaboration that initially
challenged the preconceptions of many
participants, but which became an essential
component of the program’s success.
Results
From the inception of the “Curbing
Crime” program in 2004 through the sum-
mer of 2006, the Seattle Police Department
reported a 20% decrease in drug traffick-
ing in the Rainier-Othello neighborhood.
While the “Curbing Crime” work was only
one piece of the puzzle that yielded this
result, all of the partners agree that the aes-
thetic improvements helped deter criminal
activity, while also bolstering resident orga-
nizing efforts by creating a sense of hope
and accomplishment.
The partners’ theory is supported by an
examination of changes in calls for service
and reports of suspicious behavior by resi-
dents. The number of 911 calls from Rain-
ier-Othello increased in 2004, as citizens
became more confident in law enforcement
and more invested in the neighborhood.
This led to a perceived “spike” in drug
activity in the neighborhood; although the
The Othello Park Concert series featuring local musicians has turned out hundreds of residents to
enjoy and reclaim their local greenspace.
“The police officers are remarkable people—and once we
actually sat down and talked to them, we saw that they
really wanted to work with us not in an authoritative
way, but as a partnership. They encouraged us take the
lead, and it was really empowering. I had never worked
with police before, but it was a happy, happy surprise.”
—Sarah Valenta, ROSA member and HomeSight employee

partners’ suspect that the only real change
was an increase in citizen reporting, rather
than in increase in actual narcotics activ-
ity. Then, in 2005 and 2006, incidents
of drug related crime decreased, as law
enforcement took advantage of citizens’
proactive reporting and the improvements
to the physical environment took hold.
Nearby neighborhoods that did not ben-
efit from the partners’ coordinated efforts
did not experience similar drops.
The program’s tangible results also
include the curbing of two streets at a
cost of $120,000 per street, as well as the
improvements in streetscaping including
banners, planters and a locally-designed
community kiosk. The programming
coordinated by ROSA and HomeSight
has also continued. Neighborhood fami-
lies and children continue to support
eagerly anticipated activities such as the
Bicycle Safety Day and Othello Park Con-
cert Series.
ROSA continues to organize regular
Crime Walks, keeping litter off the streets
and maintaining the group’s momentum
as new families move into the neighbor-
hood. Community programming is likely
to remain a focus of ROSA’s work, as real
estate investment begins to change the
neighborhood’s profile; in 2006, 40 new
market-rate townhomes were built in the
neighborhood These sold for $350,000
per 2-bedroom unit, suggesting more
changes are ahead for Rainier-Othello.
Less quantifiable, but just as signifi-
cant, the program has built trust between
the community, the CDC and local law
enforcement. This trust made it possible
for police, residents, and CDC employees
to leverage one another’s experiences in
creating a novel approach to community
safety through environmental design and
programming. Trust also enabled these
groups to learn from one another, and to
recognize that they share the same goals
– namely, increasing their community’s
safety and quality of life.
overall results:
Built trust among diverse
coalition
Set tangible, realistic goals
Succeeded within a long-term
framework (two years)
Raised more than $240,000
in grants for physical
improvements
Implemented ongoing
programming including Safety
Walks, Bicycle Safety Day and
Othello Park Concert Series
Created partnerships with city
and state agencies
Increased citizen crime report-
ing, which helped decrease
narcotics activity by 20% in
less than two years
physical
improvements:
Curbed two residential streets,
increasing traffic safety
Redesigned and developed
bus shelters
Removed payphone used
for drug trade
Improved sidewalks
Built Community Kiosk
Added Planters
Added Banners identifying
the community to residents
and visitors
Added Salmon Stencils near
Drainage Outlets
In 2005 and 2006, incidents of drug-related crime
decreased as police took advantage of citizens’
proactive reporting and the improvements to the physical
environment took hold. Nearby neighborhoods that did
not benefit from the partners’ coordinated efforts did
not experience similar drops.
For more information, contact:
Sarah Valenta, HomeSight CSI
Coordinator
Phone: 206.723.4355
Email: sarah@homesightwa.org
The authors and publishers are solely responsi-
ble for the accuracy of the statements and inter-
pretations contained herein. Such interpretations
do not necessarily reflect the views of MetLife
Foundation.
Author: Anne Dodge
Design: B. Boyle Design
Photos: Courtesy of HomeSight and the Seattle
Police Department

2007_MET_LISC_aesthetics

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to 2007_MET_LISC_aesthetics

Similar to 2007_MET_LISC_aesthetics (17)

2007_MET_LISC_aesthetics