Just Another Weeknight in the U-District
I recently wrote about 10 ways the University of Washington could improve, and forth on my list was the UW police. I mentioned that I receive an email once every six months that describes a stabbing, shooting, or murder. Here’s my proof. Below is a quote from an email I received earlier today from the UW police office:
On Wednesday, April 23, 2008, at 1:48 AM, a female UW student was robbed by several
men at knife point while walking alone at the intersection of NE 47th Street and 18th
Avenue NE. The suspects emerged from a vehicle. The victim was not injured. The
suspects fled the area after taking personal belongings from the victim. One of the
suspects is described as a male, 5′7″, in his 20s, wearing a black baseball cap and a
dark hooded sweatshirt. This incident was assigned Seattle Police incident #
08-144718.Approximately 7 minutes after the above incident, at 52nd and University Way NE, two
male victims were confronted by two groups of males who assaulted and robbed them.
These groups also emerged from vehicles. One victim was stabbed during the fight and
was subsequently treated at Harborwiew Medical Center. The victims were not students
and had no affiliation with the University. The suspects in this incident fled prior
to the arrival of the police. One suspect was described as a male in his 20s, thin
build, with an orange colored hoodie, black shirt and shorts. The incident was
assigned Seattle Police incident # 08-144725.
Pretty ridiculous, huh? I know the issue is more complicated than I make it out to be, but I’m pretty certain that having an officer or two patrol the greek system at night would be relatively innexpensive and very effective.
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[...] Police I get an email about once every six weeks describing a shooting or stabbing that occurs in the U-district. I rarely see police officers patrolling the streets, which is [...]
Two things:
First, you should always be cautious about extrapolating from a small sample size (N=2). Those incidents sound bad, but I’m not so sure that crime is that bad in the U District. Not sure where you can find stats on that sort of thing.
Second, I have an item to add to your list. I think that both the Ave and the UW campus should auction off licenses for street vendors. More competition should lower prices, and rolling vendors would be really nice on campus.
Agreed my sample size is very small. I will continue to post emails as I get them.
As for your rolling vendor idea, I’m all in! The U-Distinct could use a few taco carts, ghetto dog stands, etc. Mmmmmm. Thanks for the comment.
Alex, I was a witness to the stabbing outside Pizza Ragazzi on Tuesday night. What I was doing at the Immigrant on Tuesday?? I have no idea. But the scene was one of the most disturbing things I’ve seen in a long while… Just another reminder to always be on your toes when wondering around the U-district at those hours.
Thanks for the update, Barry. Glad to hear you weren’t one of the victims ;).
Sample size???
What the hell?
I go to school at the UW, and everyday I have to get a military escort to campus. But then again, I am akin to royalty.
Perhaps my grades would be better if I didn’t have to take all these self-defense judo classes.