Summer update press release from WSBWCN:

Hi Everyone,
A few summer updates for you:

•West Seattle Grand Parade: This year, we decided that it would be a great opportunity to have some fun and get some visibility by walking in the West Seattle Grand Parade. You and your family/friends are invited to join us this Saturday, July 21! It should be great fun for kids (of all ages), especially those who like to dress up or are creative. I’d love to see some of you in 9-1-1 costumes to hand out 9-1-1 stickers. We also have No Soliciting signs and informational flyers about WSBWCN to give away. We could use a (decorated?) wagon or two to transport our handout materials. We’ll also need some signs espousing community building, crime prevention, and emergency preparedness. Perhaps you have better/other ideas?

The parade starts on Saturday, July 21 at 11:00 AM, so we’ll need to be in the Admiral staging area at 10:30. Look for our new West Seattle Blockwatch Captains’ Network banner that débuted at the BW Appreciation party! If you can join us, please email WSBWCN at wsblockwatchnet[at]gmail.com so we can send you updates or additional information. Looking forward to having fun with other BW Captains!

•Night Out is August 7 (registration information here) – need materials for your event? We again have Night Out materials that you can give to your block watch members! Bags for adults and bags for younger kids are available. The blue 9-1-1 bags for kids include a coloring book that teaches about 9-1-1 and some stickers. The white Adult bags contain No Soliciting signs, and other printed materials about Personal Safety, Vehicle Security, Suspicious Activity, OK/HELP signs, out-of-area contact cards, and other materials. These are the same basic materials that we provided last year, so you may primarily want them if your neighborhood has some new members or you didn’t get them last year.

We will NOT be having a meeting in July but if you didn’t pick up materials at last month’s meeting, the materials are available for you to put together and pick up on Tuesday, 7/31 from 11-1 PM in our regular meeting room at the SW Precinct (2300 SW Webster Street). We have some of the materials in multiple languages, so you can customize the materials for your bags if desired. If that time doesn’t work for you, email us at wsblockwatchnet[at]gmail.com and perhaps we can setup up one more pickup time before Night Out.

Note: If you are having a Night Out event, you can register with the city here to close your street without a permit fee.

• No WSBWCN meetings until fall: As we have done in the past, no regular meetings in July or August. Meetings will resume September 25.

• Upcoming summer events: The SW Precinct Picnic is August 11. Other events where WSBWCN will participate are listed on our website.

• Re-deployment of CPT Officers: As reported recently in West Seattle Blog and the West Seattle Herald, our Community Police Team (CPT) officers have been re-deployed for at least the summer months. Hopefully, we can get them back in the fall. I checked with Lt. Pierre Davis about what we should do in the meantime if we have a need for help from the CPT officers regarding an ongoing neighborhood problem or problem household. Lt Davis said that although the CPT officers have been re-deployed, they will still receive phone messages and emails; although they most likely will not be able to respond in as timely of a manner as before. As well, Mark Solomon, the Crime Prevention Coordinator who helps to establish block watch groups in our area is very knowledgeable in these matters and may be able to help you with solving neighborhood issues. He also has a huge area of responsibility, so you may have to wait a little longer than you like to connect with him as well. So, do contact them if you have a problem and let us know how that is working out for you.

Have great Night Out and a fun summer!

Deborah Greer
On behalf of the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains’ Network (WSBWCN)
Email: wsblockwatchnet[at]gmail.com
Phone: 206-424-0040
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=337488370959
Website: http://wsblockwatchnet.wordpress.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wsblockwatchnet
Monthly Meeting: 4th Tuesday 6:30-8 SW Police Precinct Meeting Room (2300 SW Webster) No meetings July, August, November and December.