West Seattle man: city is not giving property crime the attention it deserves

SEATTLE - Property crime is something many of us have dealt with across Western Washington. So far this year, there have been 31,588 reports of property crime in Seattle.

In 2016, Seattle was ranked 6th highest for property crime among 50 of the largest U.S. cities.



Jeffrey Paul is new to Seattle and he says he's been victimized nine times in a five-month period.

“You hear all these things about what a great place to live,” Paul said.

But his experience dealing with property crime at his West Seattle townhouse he calls "shocking."

“I haven’t experienced anything like this and I’ve lived in LA, Long Beach, Nashville, Waco, TX all these cities never have I ever had these daily property thefts,” Paul said.

He says he feels unsafe and is concerned for his wife’s safety.

So far he’s obtained quite a collection of surveillance videos of thieves breaking into his car and stealing multiple packages from his front porch.

“Four times my car has been broken into in the last 5 months my neighbor's cars been broken into,” Paul said.

In the videos, you see different men come up to the driver’s side door. It appears like the car is unlocked and they open it pretty easily, but Paul says his car was locked and he believes the thieves are using some device to unlock his car.

He says he never leaves anything inside his car, but in one case back in October his fiancé at the time left a priceless pair of shoes in the trunk.

“The shoes she was going to wear in her wedding is the shoe her mother wore in her wedding,” Paul said.

Their belongings were gone along with Paul’s patience with the city and Seattle Police.

“The first time, I was on hold for over an hour. The next two times I was told an officer would come they never came,” Paul said.

An officer did show up after the 4th car break-in. Paul says that officer was caring and helpful.

The captain of the Southwest precinct also reached out to him saying extra patrols are happening in the area. SPD told Q13 News on Wednesday that additional officers will be working overtime to address the concerns brought up. SPD also offered Paul a safety assessment of his townhome.

“I think we can do better with our existing resources,” Paul said.

He wants a citywide emphasis on property crime and not just on issues like homelessness and affordability.

“My patience ended 3 car break-ins ago I am looking for help not just for me as a current resident but for future residents,” Paul said.

Q13 News reached out to the mayor’s office and city council on their thoughts on property crime. They did not provide a response as of Wednesday night.