Spokane COPS is presenting its third crime prevention forum at Northeast Community Center (4001 North Cook) on Tuesday Oct. 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. Mayor Mary Verner and Spokane Police Chief Kirkpatrick will be there along side neighborhood resource officers and crime analysis specialists from SPD.
The crime prevention forum was requested by councilman Bob Apple for the Northeast quadrant of the city.

This blog was a twittering and facebooking fool last night at City Hall's crime prevention summit. On stage were Mayor Mary Verner, Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick and Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich. Colleague Jonathan Brunt had this story in today's paper.

It was interesting that only a handful of people stood up in support of Ivan Bush, long-time civil rights leader, when he talked about how Spokane has a race problem.
The crowd was more supportive of speakers who talked about preventing domestic violence, not that the two issues can be compared.
Interesting statistic from Chief Kirkpatrick: the Spokane Police Department made contact with people 132,000 times last year, made 4,516 arrests and visited 2,649 people on warrants.

Also: The NAACP is hosting a community meeting at East Central Community Center (500 S. Stone) on Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. to continue the conversation about the bomb found prior to the Martin Luther King Day March, race relations and policing.

The Spokane Sheriff’s Department said Crime Check has received numerous reports of suspicious persons representing themselves as salesmen this week. Some say they are Comcast employees, but that may or may not be the case said a Comcast spokesperson. It’s especially residents in Hillyard, Gleneden and other neighborhoods in North Spokane County that have been contacted by men who claim to represent Comcast.  In one instance the men asked for personal financial information and in another case the men walked back to a woman’s shop after she did not answer their knock on the front door.
One “salesman” was a black male in his 20’s who drove away in a gold Tahoe or Suburban.  In another incident, two younger white males were walking through the neighborhood and no vehicle was seen. A Comcast representative said the company currently has a promotion in Spokane County and that “subcontractors” are going door-to-door to pitch the sales, but all Comcast employees, including subcontractors, wear clearly visible identification.  At a minimum, company representatives should produce identification if asked.
Criminal suspects often knock on the doors of their intended victims to find out if someone is home, and then give some sort of phony sales pitch or excuse if a resident answers the door.
Spokane County residents who encounter someone claiming to be a Comcast employee and who does not produce Comcast identification should call Crime Check at 456-2233 to report the matter.