Unredacted

Why does SPD have a Tumblr? We already tell you a lot about police work and crime on our Twitter feed (@SeattlePD), Facebook page and the SPD Blotter. Now we want to show you that police work. That’s where Tumblr comes in. We think Tumblr is the perfect space to tell visual stories that we can’t always do justice to through Tweets and blog posts. When we say we’re stepping up patrols in a precinct or a neighborhood, we’ll show you what that looks like, too, through pictures and video. We can write all we want about how our investigators solved a crime after finding fingerprints at a scene. But meticulous forensic work remains much more impressive when you actually see it. So, that’s why Tumblr: to show you your police department doing police-y things in your city. If there’s something you want to know about SPD or police work, just ask. On that note, we also get asked a lot of questions about cops and crime on Twitter, but those questions (and our answers) tend to get washed down the Twitter stream, never to be seen again. So, go ahead and take a look the left side of this page here. You’ll see an “Ask a Question” tab. Click it and ask away! If you’ve got a question about how to deal with a late-night noise issue on your block or want help navigating neighborhood crime statistics, your questions (and our responses) will be archived for your neighbors, who might be looking for answers, too. Finally, you’ll also find interesting bits about this department’s history and a number of other odds and ends that might not make sense to post on the Blotter or Twitter, but that deserve to be seen. You’ll find snippets from police reports, photos of things from our strange office, and other curiosities right here on SPD Unredacted*. All that and you’ll still get the same regular breaking news updates on Twitter, hear the details behind those stories on our Blotter and find out all about community events on Facebook. Tell your friends. *PS: Don’t take the page’s name completely literally (sometimes we may post documents with names or other info redacted in order to protect crime victims). December 5, 2013

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He shoved his hand quickly into his jacket pocket and then pulled out a bag of candy in a violent manner and stated 'it's just candy, you can check.'  ... While emptying the pocket, a piece of suspected crack cocaine fell to the ground and I recovered it.

Officer Matthew Bradrick, working a uniformed bike patrol near Prefontaine Park on February 14, 2016.

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When I arrived, [the victim] came out to speak with me near her parked vehicle. [She] stated today when she came out to her car and attempted to unlock her car with the remote, the lights didn't flash. [She] thought she had forgotten to lock the car. When she got to about the rear driver's side door, she realized an unknown male was asleep in the driver's seat. The male woke up suddenly, got out of the car, and yelled "ahhhhh." [The victim] yelled "ahhhhhhh" and the male left running eastbound from the car. [The victim] did say a bottle of lotion left on the driver's seat was not hers.

Officer Jonathan Reese details a suspicious circumstance on 3/19/2014 in the 6000 block of 30th Ave NE.

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We got new mugs, courtesy of the Seattle Police Foundation! No more mug schedule for us!

[seattlish]

Does that… does that work?

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No, but it's the thought that counts.

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I located the knife, packaged it and booked it into evidence. It appeared to have some blood on the handle. I did not locate a handkerchief.

Officer Jesse Thomas responding to a report of a bloody knife and a blood-covered handkerchief left at a bus stop in the 3600 block 23 Ave SW just before 1:30 PM on March 20, 2014. Police did not receive any reports of stabbings in the area.

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In 2012, SPD considered updating the department's shield logo and asked officers for ideas. After receiving dozens of submissions, the department ultimately opted to keep its current, classic logo design—featuring (clockwise) salmon, a jet, trees the Space Needle and an eagle.

[seattlish]

BREAKING CRIME NEWS.

Thanks, AJ.

[mayoredmurray]

Today I visited the Seattle Police Department’s South Precinct. They told me I was the first mayor in recent memory to visit the precinct. It was a good opportunity to share my vision with the officers and to hear directly from them. We still have work to do to comply with the consent decree, but as I shared with the officers, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told me we’re making progress. We’re all looking forward to the day when Seattle is a model police force for the country.

To the officers of the South Precinct, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me and as always thank you for your willingness to sacrifice your safety for ours. 

[thankyoulawenforcement]

Repeat. 

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In 1920 the Seattle Police Department parted ways with the ol' ball and chain and introduced the Oregon Boot.

The Oregon Boot—a 5-to-28 pound weight bolted to the heel of an old leather boot—ensured prisoners would think twice before trying to make a run at escaping from police custody.

Today, police use a combination of leg shackles and a chain wrapped around a prisoner's belly to deter escape attempts.

-Photo courtesy the Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum

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The Straight Poop on the Mounted Unit

Each equine member of the Seattle Police Department's Mounted Unit is specially selected for their temperament and endurance, and specially trained to resist their animal instincts amongst large crowds and in tense situations.

But for all their excellent breeding—matched only by their majestic grace—the Mounted Unit's horses are still horses, and remain bound to one particular instinct:

From time to time, the four-legged members of the Mounted Unit will deposit their leavings on city streets and sidewalks.

To get the straight poop on SPD's horses, we went straight to Mounted Unit Sergeant Jim Scott about how his officers handle what comes out of their equine partners' hindquarters.

"If it's in a cross walk or on Park property or a sidewalk, we dismount and shovel and bag it up," says Sgt. Scott. "If it's in the street, we leave it for the nightly street sweepers."  However, from high up on horseback, Mounted Unit officers can't always tell when their equine partners have done their business.

"One of the problems is that our horses are trained to 'walk through' a bowel movement," Sgt. Scott says. "They don't stop walking when they poop, so, often, we don't even know they have."

While in most cases it's against the law to "fail to remove the fecal matter deposited...on public property or private property," the city code makes an exception for animals "owned by the Seattle Police Department and used to assist in the law enforcement."

The department has looked into diapering the horses, but Sgt. Scott says all the horse diapering systems currently on the market "would restrict movement to the point of distraction."

Until the day that a more elegant solution arrives, Sgt. Scott says the Mounted Unit will "continue to make it a priority to poop-scoop whenever we can."

Photo courtesy Andrew Martonik

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From morning roll call through day, here are some of the great photos we took at the Seahawks Super Bowl Victory Parade!

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10 Things You May Not Know About Fingerprints by the SPD 10-Print Section

1. The SPD 10-Print section is responsible for taking fingerprints, keeping these records and using them to identify people. Our prints are shared with the King County Regional System called AFIS.  The Washington State Patrol keeps a statewide system.  And finally the FBI keeps a huge database called IAFIS, with more than 70 million subjects. All of these systems share information with each other.

#2 Fingerprints are developed while in the womb and are called friction ridges.  Unique patterns also form on palms, toes and soles of feet. No two people have the same fingerprints, even identical twins.  And because these ridges form so far down in the dermis of the skin, they reform over scars and burns that are just on the epidermis.  

#3 Fingerprints are great for solving crimes because they are unique to everyone and permanent. In the 1880s, suspects used to be identified by the Bertillon System, which measured different body parts. When a suspect was misidentifed with this system in 1903, interest and use of fingerprinting began to grow. 

#4 There are eight patterns that people can have. Loop formations are the most common, followed by whorl patterns, and finally only 5% are arch patterns.  There is an average of over 150 ridge characteristics in a single print. 

#5 Prints can now be scanned digitally through a process called "Livescan".

#6 However, the fine folks of the 10-Print unit prefer good, old fashioned ink because they think you get a better, more detailed print this way.

#7 The ink used to take fingerprints is similar to the ink used to print newspapers.  Which makes a lot of sense when you think about it.

#8 The 10-Print unit keeps a lot of files, including an archive of old print cards.  The unit gets most of their prints when prisoners are processed, but also sometimes have to take prints from the deceased, or from unconscious patients at the hospital. 

#9 When asked, the people working in the unit agreed that the most satisfying aspect of their job was being able to put a name to a unidentified body for the family to get closure.  They also really liked being able to identify criminals who lie about their identity. 

#10 There is a very rare genetic mutation called adermatoglyphia which causes people to be born without any fingerprints.  To the relief of crime fighters everywhere, this has only been known to have happened to four families worldwide.

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The law doesn't stop at the water table.

SPD's Harbor Unit—a team of certified NAUI master divers, trained in search and rescue and Homeland Security—works round the clock, patrolling Seattle's waterways.

SPD's Harbor Unit assists at underwater crime scenes, takes underwater photos and video, performs rescue and recovery operations, boat and buoy maintenance, and is even equipped to help fight fires. In their free time on the water, members of the Harbor Unit like to train, recover vintage soda bottles from the briny depths, and search for the ever-elusive giant squid.

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Say cheese!

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With the recent announcement of the building of a new North Precinct Station, officers could breathe a sigh of relief, as their current building was built to house a staff of 154 and is badly overcrowded with a staff of 254. This new station is being designed to accommodate up to 370 officers and staff. 

Everything is relative though, a mere 33 years ago the 1981 Annual Report was all agog with the plans for the current precinct, which was built in 1984.  

The North Precinct officers of 1981 were right to be excited.  Until that time they had been housed in a small and very old Wallingford building that they shared with the Fire Department.  The building still has life today as the 45th Street Clinic.  (Photo Rob Ketcherside Flickr)