Via e-mail from neighborhood crime watchers Will and Sue Hille:

We no longer receive the SPD crime maps at C.O.P.S. East Central so I want to be sure you all know about sites you can connect to directly for daily updating on crime incidents close to your home.
The first is elert - a free service through the Spokane Police Department. Go to the Spokane Police Department and look on the left side of the screen for elert. Follow the prompts to sign up. This is a secure site and it provides current information about any area of the city you select.
The other is www.spotcrime.com, another free service that shows you a daily crime map delineating incidents within a three-mile radius of your address.
By checking both of these daily you will have better information more quickly than anything we can send.  Emergency alerts will come directly to your e-mail address.

We do want to express special sadness over the BB gun attacks (one went through a wall and almost hit a sleeping baby!) smashed windows and hit/run auto damage suffered by neighbors in the 7th Avenue and Sherman area recently.
We also seem to have heavy activity on South Hatch from a gang-based group noted for displaying the color red.
Thanks to all who hosted gatherings in August for the Neighbors Night Out Against Crime. With more than 60 attending here, we were especially pleased to have a dozen infants and toddlers. Families brought wonderful food to supplement the hamburgers and hotdogs from our grill, and our guests from Spokane's Fire Station One were able stay for the full event, enjoying their meal without being called out to serve. I think that is a first in the 15 years we have hosted the event.
East Central's Neighborhood Resource Officer, Dan Strassenberg, weren't so lucky as he went directly from chomping down a hotdog here to assisting in an arrest just four blocks away. Good job, Officer Strassenberg! 
The number for COPS East Central is: (509) 625-3330 - call with questions or come in and talk to us about your concerns. Also, please let Mayor Mary Verner and City Council members know how valuable our East Central Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) are to the quality of life we are all working for in this area. Drastic budget cuts are being proposed that would eviscerate the program.
And keep up the good work calling in crime reports to 911 when a crime is in progress or you are feeling threatened. With anything else, call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.
 
Thanks for being our neighbors! Sue and Will Hille
7th Avenue and Hatch Road.