The numbers show that White Center/North Highline may be getting a bad rap when it comes to crime.

Data presented to Burien’s City Council during a special session about annexation on Aug. 22 by King County and Burien police concluded that crime rates in Burien and White Center are “pretty similar,” as Capt. Carl Cole, day-to-day operations manager of the Burien Police Department said.

The city council had asked City Manager Mike Martin to put together a presentation on what crime issues the city would be taking on if they annexed and the results, at least by the numbers, is more of the same.

Capt. Cole came up with two numbers to illustrate the comparison. He found Burien had a crime rate of 49.9 crimes per thousand people over a 10 month period from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2011. North Highline had a rate of 56.76, based upon an estimated population of 17,600. The captain said North Highline’s actual population is hard to determine and his “stats guy” said there was a margin of error of plus or minus 2,000 people.

Looking at specific crimes, the number of dispatched calls over that same period of time was again very close between the two areas, usually within the same percentage point of overall calls.

There were more juvenile crimes in Burien versus more liquor violations and trespass calls in White Center, but Capt. Cole said that was indicative of specific focuses of police in those areas. Deputies in White Center have been trying to crack down on drinking in public while Burien has focused on curbing juvenile crime.

King County Deputy Josh Langdon, with 11 years of experience policing the North Highline and Burien areas spoke to the council as well, providing an officer-on-the-street view of crime.

Regarding burglaries, robberies, auto thefts and coordinated shoplifting rings, Langdon said “Those are all pretty much done by the same group of individuals … and it’s been going on ever since I’ve been here, that’s what I’ve dealt with for the past 10 to 11 years.”

“A lot of it is the same individuals that we see back and forth across the border. I’ve dealt with them on the North Highline side; I’ve deal with then on the Burien side and in Boulevard Park.”

Speaking on gang activity, Langdon said the problem is greater in Burien and Kent, where two rival Hispanic gangs are butting heads with occasionally dangerous results, such as the Kent car show shooting last month that left 12 people shot.

“In White Center there is really not too much gang activity going on …just due to the fact that there is really no one (gang) claiming it right now,” he said. The open, unclaimed turf of White Center does mean different “sets” come into the area to sell drugs, he added.

An audience member asked if the recent shooting death of Sweetheart Failautusi in White Center was gang related and both officers refused comment as it was an ongoing investigation.

Langdon said different gangs come to White Center “because we are not doing as much as we used to because we don’t have the funding anymore.” Instead of having the staffing for constant presence in the area, he said, police generally only show up in White Center when they are called.

The council asked if that situation would improve with annexation and Capt. Cole said Burien would hire additional officers to police the White Center area, at an officer per thousand ratio higher than it stands now.

However, according to City Manager Mike Martin, Burien is below average with just over one officer per thousand citizens where comparable cities average 1.4.

A day later, on Aug. 23, the King County Council heard a very similar presentation surrounding the emerging gang issues in South King County. As KC Prosecutor Dan Satterberg put it, “Once the bullets start flying, it’s time for suppression.”

In that meeting KCSO Det. Joe Gagliardi said police have seen a shift in gang activity over the past several years from Seattle and White Center to southern King County – primarily Burien and Kent. He said Hispanic gangs have taken root and second and third-generation, U.S. born Hispanics are getting recruited.

“These are our children causing these problems,” he said, adding that some of the gangs have a “fight-on-sight culture,” where gang bylaws require physical engagement with a rival gang member, whether in a public or private setting.

Det. Gagliari said new gang members are coming to South King County from eastern Washington and California as well - places where authorities have cracked down, forcing gangs to new areas.

In light of the crime comparison between Burien and North Highline, Councilmember Gerald Robison was the only one to clearly state his case on Aug. 22.

“I think (annexation) is a decision that makes sense and is something we need to move forward with,” he said.

Mayor Joan McGilton and Councilmember Jack Block were absent from the special annexation session.

As the meeting wrapped up, Gill Loring, a White Center resident, approached the podium and made his plea to the council and people of Burien.

“We just want to be part of a city. We don’t want to continue to be part of an unincorporated area, we want representation, we don’t want Seattle … because we want to have a say. Like a meeting like this where I come down 15 minutes from my house and park and talk, rather than taking a bus downtown during the middle of the day,” Loring said.

“So please, we are human beings, we are the same as everybody else.”