So I was driving down Eastlake last night on my way to dinner, when this happened:
There were about 12 cop cars blocking traffic in the 2800 block of Eastlake next to an apartment building. Then the SWAT team rolled up and ran into the building with a battering ram, followed by a K-9 unit.
Naturally, I pulled over to figure out what the fuck was going on.
Turns out this massive show of force was over a domestic violence assault, and there was a gun involved. By the time police got to the scene, the man had fled.
Even though SPD spends too much time ticketing cyclists, stinging nightclubs and getting lap dances from strippers, it’s nice to see them devote their resources to something worthwhile from time to time.
The F word does not enhance a post.
Everytime they interview Kerlikowske he whines about not having enough cops to serve the city. No wonder, when a domestic violence call pulls 12 units off their routes.
I shouldn’t be surprised, considering SPD feels it needs 3 units minimum to deal with a drunken hobo.
You pulled over to find out what was happening? Gheezuz no wonder they need 12 cop cars to deal with every little wrinkle in the fabric. 1 to deal with the wrinkle and 11 to keep the gawkers out of the way.
Maybe there would be less gawkers if they didn’t roll 12 deep to a routine call.
The SPD is ridiculous.
SPD does a superb job of handling DV cases. The more you learn about how other jurisdictions, especially outside of King County, deal with these cases, the more you will appreciate SPD’s policies & training on this stuff.
Yeah, I live near that place and I always thought it looked severely sketchy. I’m not surprised they had a domestic disturbance call at all.
And ditto on SPD usually being ridiculous.
ticketing cyclists? really, only seen it once – drunken driving
“ticketing cyclists”
Sssshhhh. Don’t tell them they’re not paranoid, because real cyclists know the truth, everyone is out to get them.
@3
He’s a reporter, numnuts. That’s his job.
I think most cops would rather be doing this sort of thing than ticketing bikers, but they’ve gotta keep ’em busy with something.
Don’t beat your wife in the city of Seattle. Or anywhere.
just door the fucking cyclists. like they’re afraid they’ll get a ticket and lose their bike license? or a ticket will raise their bike insurance rates? don’t even slow down. gun it and door them on your way to serve and protect decent fuckers not bike jerks
$540,000 for a 1 bedroom condo there?
Sure, you couldn’t buy that kind of entertainment for anything less…
Speaking of silliness, anyone know what that trap at the Union St exit off I-5 southbound is about? I’ve seen two motorcycle cops there ticketing people en masse twice this week. I can’t figure out what traffic rule so many people are apparently violating.
WTF are you talking about, Jonah? There’s a gang war in the South End and the CD, and there’s twelve cop cars over a domestic assault. Seattle is fucking retarded.
Yeah right – like this Mayberry of a city has any idea what a gang war is.
But it makes the hipsters feel like they have street creds, so why not?
Since I moved to Seattle in ’94, I’ve needed to call the police six or seven times (thanks, drunken and drugged-out asshole neighbors). They have always responded quickly, have taken our complaints seriously, and have been polite and respectful. Cut them some slack. If you ever need them, chances are they’re going to come save your ass.
Also, if the asshole involved in this complaint had actually shot his wife/girlfriend/whomever, I guarantee you there would be 100 comments in this thread about the SPD not doing enough to stop domestic violence.
I remember going to a defensive driving class when I was 17. The teacher was an x-cop that mostly just told alternating funny and sad stories. He also made the point that that they were most tense when going to DV calls because the situation can go from 0-suck in like .5 sec. I would hate for a situation like this to turn into something much worse than a couple cop cars blocking the street.
It took 3 cops and 2 cars to “subdue” me when I “jaywalked” by entering the crosswalk during the countdown. I can’t imagine what they do for real situations.
“Now I dialed 911 a long time ago
Don’t you see how late they’re reactin’
They only come and they come when they wanna”
“about 12 cop cars” …. the picture shows 5 ….
Domestic Violence…. suspect on the loose potentially with a gun….
Um, I have no issue here – EVEN IF THERE WERE 12
Also…. There are more homeless in Seattle than police and the homeless have become a protected class (literally). I vote for protecting the police from dumbass, douchebag stranger readers asserting their uninformed, uneducated opinions as fact.
And, before you bitch, if the cops were really the nazis you all make them out to be they would be cracking down on the flow of coke at cha cha and encouraging the taxing of needle exchange! Better yet, they would be preventing the public flow of free speech in the Times, PI, Stranger, Weekly, on the SCCC campus, etc., etc., etc….
FUCK YOU ALL, I LOVE THE COPS! I have worked hard, I’m very liberal, but I’m enlightened and educated and I know that without a truly free society The Stranger and SLOG would not be allowed. I don’t think I’m a SME with more information than my plumber, my IT guy, my Dr., or anyone else with better training than I have. Why does everyone in Seattle seem to think they know all about everything but that nobody knows more than them in their specialty?
The paranoid hatred of authority is so lame…. I have repeatedly offered my suggestions to ECB about how she does her job and my comments seem to disappear. I’m sure that’s all an accident. But, she should feel free to come to my work and knock the dicks out of my mouth because I have bad technique.
@21 I agree with this comment.
Sometimes cops can be really bad, but, you have really bad doctors, lawyers, etc. It happens. It sucks that they have really hurt some people and that is where we need to step in and request that they be reprimanded.
@21, 22
Seriously, cops are just people, trying to do a hard job. They often fall prey to psychological vulnerabilities regarding authority and repeated stressful situations, but so would anyone in their shoes; that’s just human nature.
You put anyone in a position of authority and then expose them to people misbehaving and they’ll take a turn for the authoritarian and callous. Look up Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment. If there’s a systematic problem with the behavior of the police, doesn’t that suggest that the system needs reform, not that the individual cops are dicks?
Cut the cops some slack, folks. They’re doing a necessary job the best they can. Police are flawed because people are flawed and because doing that job would change anyone. If you have a problem with police work, then agitate for more oversight, don’t just bitch.
I live in Eastlake, and I was wondering what the hell that noise was about. You hear sirens in the city all the time, but this was something else. Thanks for letting us know, Jonah! I hope they castrate the offender.