Crime within the Logan neighborhood is increasing - Bulletin

In Spokane, 1 out of every 13 people are likely to be a victim of the approximately 16,500 property crimes that occur each year in the city, according to Neighborhood Scout, an online database for neighborhood analytics.

Gonzaga students and residents of the Logan Neighborhood often find themselves as victims of these wrongdoings.

Mark Driver, a GU senior, had a thief attempt to take items from his home on the 300 block of Sinto.

“At 2 a.m. I heard someone try to open my bedroom door, then two minutes later I heard someone in my living room,” Driver said.

He confronted the assailant who was in the process of unplugging their television and the man ran out the door.

Crime of this nature are not an anomaly for residents in the Logan Neighborhood.

According to the Lexis Nexis community crime map there have been nine residential burglaries, 20 motor vehicle thefts and 48 burglaries from a motor vehicle, since the beginning of 2018, reported to the Spokane Police Department (SPD) within a mile radius of the campus.

“The Logan Neighborhood is a hotspot for us, currently,” Captain Dan Torok of SPD’s North Precinct said in a phone interview.

Torok described “hotspots” as areas of prolonged crime. When an area is determined to be a “hotspot,” SPD directs its officers to patrol those neighborhoods especially hard.

“Property crimes is the biggest issue in Spokane,” Brian Best, crime prevention and education officer for Campus Security and Public Safety (CSPS), said.

CSPS, however, has not seen any noticeable increase in home burglaries.

“What we’ve noticed is one [break-in] in the last week,” Best said. “So, to me, one is kind of random, it doesn’t indicate a spike. We aren’t investigating anything like it’s a rash or spike in crime.”

Junior Sarah Kelly became one of the victims of crime when her house on the 700 block of East Mission Avenue was broken into earlier this month. The thief got away with a laptop, video game consoles and credit cards.

“Our room upstairs had been completely swiped,” she said.

Kelly and her roommates had a connection within SPD and with the officer’s help all of her and her housemate’s items were found and returned.

“If we wouldn’t have known the people we knew, I don’t think we would’ve gotten as good of a story,” she said.

While SPD is making arrests in these cases, including one this past week where they arrested an individual believed to have burglarized the home of GU student’s, Torok advises that these successes be taken with a grain of salt.

“I don’t want students to be misled that once we arrest somebody, they’re good for a month, because that’s not accurate,” Torok said.

Due to overcrowding in Spokane jails, criminals who committed non-violent crimes are often released within a few days or sooner.

“Arresting our way out of a problem is really not a solution, because there is no room to put the people, so prevention is always the first and foremost,” Torok said.

Torok asked students to help SPD by taking steps toward prevention.

“People should really get in the habit of locking doors, if you see people prowling around, by all means, call Crime Check [509-456-2233],” Torok said. “You may not get a cop with his lights and sirens going, flying to get the person, but at minimal even if they can’t break a cop free from what he’s doing, at minimal we have that report and we can see an increase in activity.”

Best also encourages students to keep doors locked, close windows and keep valuables out of plain sight.

“If someone can see into the house and there’s six laptop computers sitting around the table, then that gives them a little more reason to take that chance and break in,” Best said.

Even with taking precautionary measures, students aren’t immune to crime.

“If somebody really wants in your house,” Torok said. “You can lock your door, you can do those things necessary, but realistically don’t be deluded to believe that somebody can’t kick a door down, because they can.”

He did note that GU students have not faced a large problem with this severe sort of burglary.

Ian Davis-Leonard is a news editor. Follow him on Twitter @ilowe714.

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