Today all the Seattle Police precincts hosted picnics for the communities. Ours was at the police station across from North Seattle Community College. It was a warm sunny day, nice for wandering around to check out the displays and activities. There was free food (always a priority for me) – hot dogs, apples, chips, soda, and ice cream. There was one of those blow-up bouncy things for the kids to jump around in. You could take a tour of the precinct building. A stream of dancers and musicians kept the area energized.
Literature was available at tables, such as about fighting graffiti, and crime preventions tips. Our Crime Prevention Coordinator, Diane Horswill, was there (be sure to see our item a couple days ago on the proposed elimination of her position, and write city officials urging them not to do that). She will probably be at Pinehurstfest as well.
A couple SWAT guys were there with their armored vehicle. A K-9 unit was there, the handler let folks take photos of their families with the hard working German shepherd. There were some Bomb Squad officers demonstrating and explaining two robots. I think Harbor Patrol officers were there too, but I didn’t talk to them.
Local officials put in appearances, too. Mayor Mike McGinn was mingling with the crowd, as was the Chief of Police, John Diaz.
Next year if you want free food, live music and you want to learn about the SPD units, this is the place to be! The more I learn about our SPD, the more I’m impressed with their officers and their units and programs.
I went over there for a while and had a great time. On my precinct tour, a suspect was being hauled in for hitting three cars while high on crack. Meeting the K-9 team was great! Food was free (also a good way to get me to go somewhere)and tasty – and I learned some new things about our police force – like the fact that we have 5 dedicated bicycle officers in the north end whose training includes learning how to do “sliding takeouts” of suspects while on their bikes. Only think I missed was the mounted police, I guess they were all at a protest downtown.