SEATTLE -- In November 2014, the Seattle Police Department launched its Micro Community Policing Plans to target neighborhood crime. SPD is now looking for more community input to address each community's unique issues and concerns.
"The police will have some strategies. But really, what are strategies that the community can get involved and get engaged [in]?" said Sergeant Adrian Diaz, who oversees the Micro Community Policing Plans.
SPD has 58 different micro policing areas throughout the city. Through social media and blogs, the department is asking for residents' feedback on the top three public safety issues in their neighborhood.
"It's not just the police officers doing it. We really need the community's input and involvement...to help our communities be safer," Sergeant Diaz said.
In Seattle's South Park neighborhood, police heard from the community that drugs, property crime and the heavily used Duwamish Trail were that community's biggest problems. Local kids nicknamed the trail the "scary trail." Many cyclists, pedestrians and kids use the path to go between Concord Elementary School, the South Park Branch of the Seattle Public Library and the community center. But over the years, it's become a haven for drug users and thieves.
Through a private and public partnership with SPD, Motorola workers, residents and volunteers recently cleared out all the weeds and overgrown bushes, picked up drug paraphernalia and trash. They put in native plants and garden to make the "scary trail" a safer place.
"It's overwhelming. It puts a serious lump in your throat. It's so humbling. It gives you a sense of renewal," said South Park resident and volunteer Carmen Martinez.
