Posted by abm at 5/12/08 1:38 p.m.

It not a new problem, but no one seems to care until someone dies here, then everyone's SHOCKED! Seems the police & are local leaders really needs to step up & get this turned around before the body count goes any higher.

Posted by unregistered user at 5/12/08 2:30 p.m.

Wait, is this an opinion piece, or a news piece?

Posted by Kurosawa at 5/12/08 3:21 p.m.

Very likely the police focus on cleaning up the area on Third Ave, between Pine and Pike, dispersed the problem partly north into Belltown (and other areas).

We get the police protection we're willing to pay for, in other words. More police foot and horse patrols could do wonders, but that costs money. Federal support for policing is being flushed down the toilet in Iraq, rather than supporting keeping our own cities and towns safe for their residents - or providing drug treatment to addicts.

Posted by seattle j at 5/12/08 3:21 p.m.

It's a blog, opinions are okay.

Posted by unregistered user at 5/12/08 3:28 p.m.

I hate the stop whining it's Belltown attitude. Why should we just accept crime because we knew it was here? Neighborhoods change, people change. Belltown is growing, the alley in question is 3 blocks from the cruise ship dock, tourists get off the ship and go to Pikes then walk through Belltown to the Space Needle and Seattle Center. The Seattle they see is not the Seattle we should be wanting to portray and we depend on those tourist dollars. Something needs to change and soon!

Posted by unregistered user at 5/12/08 3:35 p.m.

I drive a Metro bus route down third ave and my least favorite stop is 3rd and Bell. The city turned the crack park into a dog run and now the drug dealers get on the bus and ride for a couple blocks when they want to do a drug deal. They refuse to pay a fare and go to the back of the bus to do their deal and intimidate the other passengers.

At 2nd and Bell every night it's an open Drug market. Go there on the first of the month and see how many of the welfare checks received that day are spent.

I'm working to earn a living and these jerks are threatening and assaulting me and other bus drivers and passengers. And I'm supposed to feel for them. Read up on what street drug dealers earn and you'll learn that a job at McDonalds is a better deal for a person. They choose the life style. Screw 'em!

Posted by unregistered user at 5/12/08 3:43 p.m.

I once had a group of drug dealers move into the house next door. Immediately I had strangers parking in my driveway and threatening to assault me if I asked them to move their car. I was so afraid I actually bought a gun.

The people who feel sorry for these drug dealers and users are the people whose work lives are not affected by them like a cop or a bus driver or health care worker or a person whose quality of life in their own home is adversely affected by violence and noise and litter in their neighborhood. If all the bleeding hearts would simply each take one of these poor citizens into their home and rehabilitate the person with love and kindness and generosity then the problem would be solved.

Posted by unregistered user at 5/12/08 4:05 p.m.

How about fixing the society that makes people want to smoke crack in the first place. Fix the problems, not the symtoms

Posted by SeattleDV8 at 5/12/08 4:19 p.m.

people who smoke crack dont need fixin, they need prison. far , far away.

Posted by unregistered user at 5/12/08 4:46 p.m.

As long as they are in Belltown, there will be less of them in Lower Queen Anne where I live, so let them eat each other.

Posted by unregistered user at 5/12/08 5:14 p.m.

Despite years of abject failure in the "drug war", people believe they can make others stop using illegal drugs. Why do so many who recognize that the prohibition of alcohol did not work and cannot ever work, think that society will somehow be able to stop people from using crack? Why no outrage over the hordes of sloppy suburban drunks in Pioneer Square each weekend? Alcohol & Tobacco are responsible for more death and misery than all of the illegal drugs combined. Harm reduction is the most sensible approach. The war on drugs is a racist war on your civil rights. It is doomed to failure, just like the prohibition of alcohol.

Posted by simple.man at 5/12/08 5:40 p.m.

huh? is it more common for a person to smoke crack because he is already homeless, or for a person to become homeless because he already smokes crack?

Posted by unregistered user at 5/12/08 5:48 p.m.

I work as a firefighter at the station at 4th and Battery. The problem is not new. I've been at this station for over ten years and the problem has been around for longer than that. People say that drug use is a victimless crime. I'd argue the contrary. Crack users; like meth users, are a predatory bunch that frequently display symptoms of paranoid psychosis. They hallucinate that people are after them, they go up to ten days without sleep. They are violent. Because of their chronic drug use they are rampant with communicable diseases. They need a constant supply of money and drugs. The end result is assaults, prostitution, muggings and personal property theft.

We spend most of our time after midnight dealing with their behavior (along with the huge amount of drunken fools in Belltown that get in fights and fall on the ground, but that is another story..)

We as Firefighter/EMS providers have a professional obligation to treat their heart attacks, strokes, chest pains, MRSA, open sores, and psychotic behavior. The problem will not go away unless the City leadership admits the problem and directly confronts it. Seattle Police are frustrated because they know the liberal judicial system will not prosecute the users and rarely prosecutes and locks up the dealers.

Walk down a street in Belltown after 2 AM alone and you are risking your life. We've had drug dealer stabbings at 7 PM on a warm Tuesday night. It is all drug related. Lock up the repeated violators, regardless of whether they are a user or a dealer. Throw the dealers in jail and throw away the key. Get the users treatment. Get rid of the dumpsters that allow them to hide.

Yeah, the City will slap some band aid fix on the problem, but then punish our police officers when they confront a drug crazed user who then cries to the Mayor's Office. It is an embarassment. We are supposed to live in such a beautiful, "liveable" City. What I see is a city full of drug users and alleys full of urine and fecal matter.

Posted by unregistered user at 5/12/08 6:25 p.m.

The Fireman wrote:

"Crack users; like meth users, are a predatory bunch that frequently display symptoms of paranoid psychosis. They hallucinate that people are after them, they go up to ten days without sleep. They are violent. Because of their chronic drug use they are rampant with communicable diseases. They need a constant supply of money and drugs. The end result is assaults, prostitution, muggings and personal property theft."

And, I a busdriver say: you Dear Reader are riding the bus with them in the RIDE FREE AREA that exists because it is demanded by the downtown business community. If a vote was held of all Metro bus drivers as to whether the city should end the ride free area it would get 100% of the vote.

Posted by Belltown resident at 5/12/08 6:49 p.m.

Belltown isn't what it used to be: SKID-ROW.
We are now one of the most up and comming neighborhoods in the country. Think what it was like here 6 years ago. Rents have doubled because so many people want to live here. And it's not crack-heads moving to Belltown it's Yuppies walking their babies and dogs.
It's just a matter of time now before we Drive the Drug Gangs a few blocks South so we wont have to walk thru their bodily fluids to get in our Apt's.

Posted by unregistered user at 5/12/08 10:37 p.m.

you won't drive them south. They'll drive you to the suburbs. Until something is done to make them leave; ie stricter laws and greater enforcement, the problem will only worsen. Wait until they decide meth is their drug of choice. It's cheaper, much more addictive, lasts longer and makes you even more psychotic. Then the fun will really begin.

Posted by unregistered user at 5/13/08 12:02 a.m.

Belltown resembles Pioneer Square, and in the 8 years that I've been here I've seen crime & drugs ebb & flow, & it looks like it's getting worse again. The city doesn't care that residents and visitors are harrassed on streets. Ignore, ignore, ignore. I'm sick of people saying street people just need more help. I'm a provider of this help in another area & have worked for hours to get someone emergency treatment & housing only to see them high on the streets of Seattle the next day. It's time the city started to care about all it's residents, not just the "down & out". It's also time for those who aren't addicts or homeless to stop feeling so horrible for those who are. Maybe we should all put up cameras in the alleys. I also agree that the free ride zone is a bad deal for drivers, riders, and the city. Making it easy to deal & use is of no help to anyone.

Posted by unregistered user at 5/13/08 7:29 a.m.

#128109 touched on the point that I made several days ago, namely: " It's time the city started to care about all it's residents, not just the "down & out". "

However, it's not JUST the CITY that needs this type of paradigm shift, it's our entire society.

For much too long the "rights" of those who shirk and ignore their own responsibilities of being a decent human being to those around them have been put on a much higher level than the rights of the law-abiding citizens who are negatively effected by this behaviour.

And just because something evil has "always been there", as the one poster suggested, doesn't mean that it's okay to continue to be there. And that's the lifestyle and actions these people are continuing to live: an EVIL lifestyle. It doesn't matter if they themselves are inherently evil, it's what their ACTIONS perform: Intimidation, threats of physical violence, on-going obnoxious activities, lack of civility, continuing illegal behaviours, etc...

The liberal experiment begun in the 1960's has brought us to this point: Unbridled "rights" with no responsibilities required for those rights. Hence, the hand-wringing over this Belltown problem, as well as the daily scene at, for instance, Victor Steinbrook Park, where the citizens who pay the taxes for the park cannot even use it due to the actions of those who those who choose to take no responsibility for themselves. Not to mention the disgust of the many tourists who see it as they visit the Market next door.

By the way, poster number 127941, no one calls the Market "Pikes".

Posted by unregistered user at 5/21/08 4:39 p.m.

Personally I think BelltownCrime needs a date. Seriously, somebody please ask her out and get her out of her crappy little condo. I am all for cleaning up Belltown but when you are exploiting people to further advance your cause it's just shallow and truly sick. Leave them alone, maybe who you should be filming are the police. Find out why the hell they aren't showing up! Cause really, it seems like we are wasting tax dollars in paying cops who dont show up cause they no nothing will change and we are paying out welfare to a bunch of crack heads. Maybe you BelltownCrime should write an expose on why government officials and congressmen recieve such hefty paychecks or maybe she could do a piece on lonely belltown bloggers who have nothing better to worry about than a crackhead having sex with a hooker? You can keep pointing the finger and keep going on and on like the crazy guy writing about how much money Iraq is costing us. He probably has never been to Washington D.C. to see how congressmen live.Either way you're not doing anything to better the situation. Get yourself a pail of water and toss some water on them. Urinate back. Who cares what you do. Figure it out and quite making belltown look bad cause you wanted to live DOWNTOWN. It's a city. Get used to it.