April 14

Crime and drugs and Maple Leaf parks

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21  comments

Several neighbors have written to report drug-related issues in parks here or nearby.

Chris writes:

This Spring has seen a real uptick in intravenous drug use in one of our parks. I have come across more syringes than usual since the beginning of the year in the park parcel bounded by Roosevelt Way Northeast at the northeast corner of the Beaver Pond Natural Area.

Last week (see my post to your Facebook page) my six-year-old put her hand on a capped syringe while trying to clamber over a log. This morning, I found three uncapped syringes in the English ivy under a tree she frequently climbs.

I would love to see some community involvement in finding a fix (no pun intended) (I have filed police reports, by the way).

Similarly, on the listserve Nextdoor Northgate/Maple Leaf people are discussing teens at Victory Creek Park.

I just called the cops on some kids drinking on the playground equipment at Victory Creek park next to the QFC on Northeast Northgate Way.

Heather was walking with our three-month-old through the park and asked me to look up and call the police. It’s really frustratingto me that the closest park with playground equipment to us is this park, which is constantly filled with beer cans, drug paraphernalia (such as needles) and other non-kid friendly items.

What can we do to clean up this area so it’s clean and safe for our and other families?

In a follow-up email, Chris adds: “I, for one, have an inkling that a lot of property crime (burglaries, car thefts, graffiti) in Maple Leaf is driven by drug problems.

I was contacted by SPD today (Tuesday) regarding our ongoing crisis. The officer suggested putting pressure on the Seattle Parks Department to install sharps containers in the park. His reasoning was sound. It’s clear that our natural areas are extremely difficult to patrol. Safe disposal of needles will at least go a long way toward minimizing blood-borne pathogen exposure for the rest of us.

Was hoping to garner some community interest/involvement/input.

About the author 

Sara W

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  1. I regret to report we have been notified by the Northgate Apartments that a needle infested encampment has formed on our property which borders their grounds. Our owner will likely have to hack down a few trees and bushes and secure a fence they broke down. I feel for the manager at NG Apts- he’s got enough on his hands without playing whack a mole with these rag tags. Young, white, able bodied, and fucked up. We are bummed and feeling a bit creeped out. Yes, I am an official NIMBY now and not ashamed to admit it.

  2. The only sting is coming from our taxes that aren’t delivering a public service. Somehow the rights of these junkies are more important than law abiding children.

  3. Had no ideas about needles at Mens Wearhouse. That lot is pretty wide open too. They seem to be pretty bold then. Hopefully the law is looking into who is supplying their drugs. Sometimes it seems like nothing is happening then comes a big sting. Well, one can hope anyhow.

  4. I could care less if the junkies went back to their alleys and dumpsters. Children are more important than junkies. Junkies are getting out of hand here and a lot of people are sick of them ruining the neighborhood.

    You may not care if your child gets HIV or Hep from a useless junkie throwing their trash down but 99 percent of the rest of us do.

    This whole idea about giving junkies new needles so they don’t get sick is crap. They throw them down and potentially infect children.

    Make all the excuses you want for them and let them live in your house.

  5. The two panhandlers on the median strip on Northgate Way at 5th Avenue are part – or all – of the problem. They’ve been dropping needles in the Mens Wearhouse parking lot for months, and staff have been unable to stop them. They have a pit bull so the police are reluctant to engage them. They often sleep at the QFC in the outdoor plans area until staff kick them out. These two people are really a problem.

  6. Hey Mike, please delete the two faux posts using my handle? Please monitor that IP for similar hi jinx. It ain’t me…
    Drug deals are going down in the medians at 5th Avenue NE and Northgate Way.
    Gates at Northgate Storage are easily gotten under after hours, there are people living there in storage units, either with or without managements knowledge, it needs to stop.
    Perhaps you saw the poor soul camped on Roosevelt’s sidewalks just south of NE 108th recently, sad state of affairs.

    MLL: Not of a mind to get involved in a war over fake names, An Observer(1). News people in general have minimal tolerance for them, pretty sure you can’t copyright them, and I note that An Observer(2)’s email domain is observer.com. My guess is he doesn’t realize he’s (2).
    Also, I lived through the CB era, and it wasn’t pretty.

  7. Isn’t there already a garbage can there?
    I seriously doubt junkies are going to walk the 10 feet to the sharps container if they already won’t walk 10 feet to a garbage can.

    Clearly they just don’t care about anyone or anything except getting high.

    I say buzz the bushes and stuff down to nothing so you can easily see into that “park” and that would encourage them to move along

  8. I don’t see adding Sharps Disposal Containers as providing a service for junkies. I see it as providing a service for the rest of us. It’s akin to having dog poop bag dispensers, it’s an attempt to make it so easy for people deal with their poop and needles that they are less likely to leave them around where the rest of us can step on them.

  9. If the Seattle Police won’t arrest junkies dropping needles in our park, I suggest we cut their funding. I for one want a refund.

  10. @Cara – Fantastic logic, yes. The correlation of drug use (specifically narcotics) and violent crime should be completely ignored, for the sake of “trying something new.” For you, I will make two elementary points so you can ingrain them in your head:

    Drug-using lifestyle:

    A lifestyle in which the likelihood and frequency of involvement in illegal activity are increased because drug users may not participate in the legitimate economy and are exposed to situations that encourage crime. A life orientation with an emphasis on short-term goals supported by illegal activities.

    Drug-related offenses:

    Violent behavior resulting from drug effects. Stealing to get money to buy drugs.

    Both of these things do not go away with the legality of narcotics in America.

  11. Common sense dictates that instead of fighting a war on drugs, (remember prohibition), we should look at legalizing them. This would require a massive shift in perceptions of drug users…
    We know that what we are currently doing isn’t working! If we keep doing what we are doing, we are going to keep getting what we are getting. Try something different, just a thought.

  12. Providing sharps containers for junkies? Next thing you know, you’ll want to provide bottle openers for drunks and compostable spoons for heroin users in our beautiful parks. Makes a ton of sense. Good logic everyone!

  13. Obviously, there is no one solution, just as some of these public injectors will use sharps containers and some clearly won’t give a S*^%T. One thing is for sure. It is VERY upsetting to those of us who have seen the migration north – from up on the hill to “greater” Northgate where I found my first syringe in front of our home a few weeks ago. I agree with Concerned Citizen about addressing the underlying problems and I also think we need to discourage use of our public parks for shooting drugs. Seattle Parks neglected maintaining what the high paid groovy architects/designers had stuffed into Hubbard Homestead Park so that camping out and shooting up in daylight was easy. Parks has finally cleared and trimmed quite a bit of vegetation but they can thin even more. I let the city know when I find stuff out of sorts. What else can WE DO every day?

  14. Ha Ha. I do volunteer and I do support organizations that I feel try to make a difference. Most govt programs are full of waste and inefficienies and are funded by politicians focused on programs that drive emotions for votes instead of actual results.

    Having family friends that advised former governor Locke, I am fairly aware of the bs that is politics. Just like the technique of deflecting to spew ones stance on tax loopholes. Is it partially a public health issue, sure. But its more of an issue of terrible parents, enabling bad behavior, and overall babying people who really need a kick in the ass.

    I am sorry, but we fundamentally disagree on enabling iv drug users to use in a park created for families and children by putting up sharps containers. That is a terrible idea. Do you really think some meth head who is twitching and sweating to get their next fix in their arm will take the time to use the sharps container? Come on, get real.

    Jimmy: what’s that Dad?
    Dad: its a special container put there just for the tweaker that shows up around midnight and puts a needle in their vein to get high. But don’t worry, its making us all safer.

  15. Is there any data showing that IV drug users actually use sharps containers?
    While I agree that this is partly a public health issue, I can’t support any sort of drug use in an area specifically intended for children to play.

  16. Adding sharps containers isn’t encouraging any behavior, it is making the place safer for everyone who uses the park.

    The drug use problem isn’t going to go away by increased policing (that will just push it from the parks into alleys and other areas) or penalizing the behavior by criminalizing it further (the US has been trying that for the past 50 years or so, and that has been failing to solve the problem.)

    This is a public health issue that needs to be dealt with as such. Providing sharps disposal is addressing it as a public health issue.

    Rather than just sit back and say “this it typical government action” get up and do something about it.

    Lobby the State Legislature to keep the marijuana tax dollars funding drug rehabilitation and support programs rather than plugging holes in the budget made by business tax loopholes and tax cuts… push for harm reduction models (which have been shown to work) in the funding of low-income housing and programs at the City, County and State level.

    Volunteer with or donate to non-profits like Plymouth Housing Group which seeks to get homeless into permanent housing and reduce their use of self-medication.

    Don’t just sit back and watch. Get involved to make a difference.

  17. Thursday or Friday I saw some guys cooking some drugs in a spoon in their red car parked just south of Northgate Library, on that one lane road between 8th and 5th. I called 911, but I think they left before police got there.

  18. I hate hearing about this stuff. I understand the officers suggestion of a sharps container, but I still feel its a compromise instead of taking action to reduce the negative behavior in the first place. We need to deter the behavior. Not encourage it or act like its ok as long as they dispose their needles in a formal sharps container. That is typical government action. It’s like saying a reduction in a future “planned” budget is a real cost savings.

  19. I also observed a used syringe at the construction site on the corner of 94th and 12th Ave. NE. It was muddled in with other construction debris, and a possible sign that drug users occupied an unoccupied home (currently under construction).

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