Cool. Thank for the link iloveseatown :) I have been looking for something inexpensive.

Ballard hippy tea girl,

Of course if you are being attacked fight back how ever you can.

Going back to the start of this conversation I would never suggest my wife had a taser to begin with, nor would she use bear spray indoors, she has taken the initiative to learn how to protect herself and how to not be a victim.

I found a cheaper class for people who can't afford 200 bucks to go to Insights, it is not a defense class but it is how to avoid being a target.

http://www.nrahq.org/RTBAV/schedule.asp?Locatio...

I know that the fact that it is run by the NRA may turn off some people in this city but it is 15 bucks and is a very proactive and highly rated class.

But, you would rather have your wife sitting alone in a shop with a baseball bat, or mace alone, than nothing at all, I assume. Even if she had no clue how to use it, trust me, when it's life or death, you figure out how to swing a bat as hard as you can and as many times as you can, quickly. No bat, you rely on your physical strength as a woman, which is useless.

Ladies, if you are going to get raped or murdered, injure the attacker any way you can. I dont care if you need to use hair spray in the attackers eyes, a broomstick over the head, or a damn steak knife anywhere you can. Scream, yell and cause as much commotion as possible to attract attention. Throw a chair though the frount window onto the sidewalk, if you have to.

Worry about the cops and jailhouse lawyers like this afterwards.

Chop-Chop,

We are against the bad advice, every person should think of what they would do in the unlikely case that they are the victim of violent crime.

Note that Black Helicopter Operations has advocated macing and tasing people who are loitering in other blog posts. Something that will land you in jail!!!!

I understand and relate with your concern for your safety, please just go and learn and educate your self on how to defend yourself.

Weapons are useless if you don't take the time to learn how to use them, weapons like stun guns and Tasers are practically useless for you if you are alone.

Even if you make the choice to carry a gun you need to work on your "soft skills" as hardware is never the complete solution.

Simply learning how to not be a victim can be of tremendous value. Learning to pay attention to your surroundings while projecting confidence will help reduce your chances of ever needing to defend yourself.

I am actually a huge advocate of self defense and of concealed carry, but once again, the hardware is useless if you don't have the skills and the training to use them if you ever are unfortunate enough to need them.

I understand what you are saying Black Helicopter Operations, and I totally agree. It has been kinda scary the walking to work and arriving to work before the sun is out.
I am taking steps to protect myself.
Im not sure why people are against you on this one.....

I am not here to type the way you care me to type. I am not sure what your agenda even is to be honest. I am here to simply say, if you work alone, especially if you are a female, do yourself a favor and have a way to protect yourself. You may be glad you did. Let's hope it never comes to that. This is not about who I am. This is about keeping the woman who work alone in Ballard safe.

I am very glad for you that you knew someone who was a cop or in the military. Now, either provide some USEFUL help, or move on to another blog where they are giving awards for those type of things. Nobody cares here about military helicopters, cops or any of your other nonsense.

Then who are you? Bouncer? Street thug? Yawn.

Also spare me any "What I do is classified" crap. First sign that someone is lying is when they pull that line. Second sign is they use some stupid name like Black Helicopter Operations. BTW, the helicopters in TF-160 are green, not black.

I'm not questioning the right of self defense. Just your fanciful stories of being at murder scenes, taking people down, etc. Like I said, I've know a lot of people who have been in those situations and NONE of them talk like that. You sound like a bad episode of "24".

Who said anything about being a cop or military. I cant stand both, personally. Anyway, take the advice or leave it. I am now the criminal for suggesting self defense. Suit yourselves.

"Suspects caught in Picolinos burglary"
do you have any information about these suspects? What are their names and are they out of jail?

Cyclocrossmechanic:

Sorry I was getting federal law and Washington state 2007-2008 HB 2620 which I thought had passed confused.

"I would report companies that don’t truncate your credit card number on the receipt, it has been illegal to not truncate it for a few years now."

Not exactly. The law you're talking about is the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 . Here's the part regarding card numbers on receipts: "no person that accepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction of business shall print more than the last 5 digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of the sale or transaction"

That's what the law says. Note the part about "receipt provided to the cardholder"? Merchants need to retain full number receipts for a number of legitimate reasons including being able to resolve payment disputes/chargebacks. Also there are exceptions in FACTA for hand written/manual receipts such as those companies need to use when their POS goes down or for deliveries.

"have you done much hand to hand combat with street thugs? Been involved in any murder scenes first hand perhaps? Taken down someone who was drunk of high on drugs? I sure have, and it was real world, not internet."

Got some credentials you want to provide to back that claim?

Seriously, the way you write the very notion of you being a LEO or military scares the piss out of me and I say that as someone who spent 10 years in the Army and comes from a cop family. I've known lots of cops and soldiers. This includes NYPD ESU and Army SF and NONE of the them talk that macho tough guy talk you spew. All of them are very quiet, level headed professionals. They very sort of people you'd never think of being in a firefight. If you're in a firefight you don't want to be around the gung-ho dick swinger. You want to be around the quiet guy who keeps his headspace and timing in check.

You'd also know it's TASER not tazer. Anyone who has actually been a cop would know that. They'd also know what TASER stands for - never met a cop who doesn't know that piece of trivia.

Black Helicopter Operations, you don't even know the difference between a stun gun and a Taser, let alone the cost of them.

I have enough credentials that I don't need to get into an internet pissing match with a wacker like you.

Anyway I'm done...have fun in your world heh

Telling people go go take some class you saw on Oprah for 1200 bucks is fine. If they have the money to blow, which these shop keepers dont. I am talking about buying a 10 dollar bat at Fred Myer, because if one of these nuts tries to rape you at work while your alone, you will be very glad you had it behind the register. Thats delusional?

Iloveseatown - What is your background in actual self defense. Since I am the delusional one, and we should all follow you, I am just curious what your credentials are... have you done much hand to hand combat with street thugs? Been involved in any murder scenes first hand perhaps? Taken down someone who was drunk of high on drugs? I sure have, and it was real world, not internet. And you? It's paranoid to state statistics that people are in fact robbed, raped, murdered and beaten in Seattle, not "after the shops are closed" as you claim is the case. Because you are unaware of these facts, does not make them true or paranoid. I assume you have never even been in an actual fight. Correct?

jm is correct,

I am not against the use of deadly force when needed, I'm not sure where he got that from. But if you are going to make that personal choice to arm yourself do not get your advice from a delusional paranoid internet Rambo like
Black Helicopter Operations.

There is a company called Insights in Issaquah who provides good training on both unarmed and armed self defense.

That being said,

Good automatic lighting and a safe that is bolted to the floor and or wall is what the owners should install to prevent this from happening in the future.

There's no need for deadly force because the crimes take place late at night when the shops are closed.

"Forth, using a baseball bat against someone is deadly force, if you are going to use deadly force why not use a gun?"

Iloveseattle, this would be MY first choice if my life was in danger. But, I am not a shopkeeper and have seen these people. I doubt they would ever be able to pull the trigger, so at least I am offering something rather than useless ramblings like you. You have an issue with deadly force? If you will not survive your work shift without it? Live in fantasy land. Not me. I have seen to much of how the real world works, to be that dumb in thier cases.

Trust me, these maniacs are dangerous. You will thank me when you have a weapon, rather than get murdered at work. Thanks for the comment from Iloveeattle, who I assume is one of those who is living in the Meth house and robbing folks. Disarm... great advice. Read the papers. Murder at work, is not something that only happens on TV folks.

I think the Sun Cafe was a gun shop in the past.

It's too expensive to buy a gun now, you can all thank yourselves for voting for hussein.

Which small business will be burglarized next?

I've found walking out with a shot gun usually scares 'em off. I hope Butch's Guns moves in on Ballard Ave, maybe between the spoiled pet shop and Moshi Moshi?

Most of these burglaries have taken place after hours when the owner isn’t around. So, a CPL won’t do any good in the middle of the night.

Black Helicopter Operations is giving you very poor advice,

First off, tasers are of limited use against someone with a weapon when you don't have a partner covering you if they don't work.

second using bear spray indoors will hit you too, and if the perp is on drugs or have a high pain tolerance it is not effective.

Third, you don't need a CPL to hide a taser, nor Does a CPL give you the legal ability to conceal anything but a pistol in this state (even a fixed blade knife is still illegal)

Forth, using a baseball bat against someone is deadly force, if you are going to use deadly force why not use a gun?

If any shop owner feels they need to protect themselves with a weapon I hope they talk to someone more knowledgeable then an internet Rambo.

You get them at that gun shop on Aurora. Right by Beths practically. You can get one that you hold up to a persons clothing and they go down on the ground for about 30 - 40 bucks. I personally prefer the ones shaped like a gun that shoot a dart on a wire. Those could run 150, but at least you don't have to get up close. Up close, the attacker could get the tazer out of your hand and taze you. Especially, a lower voltage one. From a distance it's hard. Plus, they sell Police grade pepper spray. Not the small ones, but the large can that sprays a huge cloud. Nobody can escape the pain of that and attack you, believe me. Hey, buy me a tazer gun and I will taze any one who gives you problem in return. It's no skin off my back. I like that stuff. At the very least, get yourself a nice wooden baseball bat and keep it in the shop. Trust me, even a small woman will do some damage with one swing. Those suckers will take anyone down. Just remember, get a concealed weapons permit if your keeping it hidden in your jacket. Otherwise, just keep your tazer behind the register, and happy hunting.... Also, get a loud alarm installed with a switch behind the counter. When being robbed or having trouble, turn it on. Then the other shop keepers will come to see what is going on. Every store should be watching the next.

Strange that you should mention tazers, because I am thinking aboutbuying one . Hey BlackHelicopterGuy, where can I get one cheap? Please define "cheap".

For the life of me, I dont know why you shop owners dont all have tazer guns. You can buy one that shoots a tazer dart right into someone from a distance at the Gun Shop at 85th and Aurora. Your nuts to not have a weapon these days and be behind a cash register in Ballard. They are cheap too. (and fun). You could have broke that fight up and had a few laughs while you were at it.

Pigeons?

I once watched one homeless guy get into a fight on Ballard Ave. with a woman that he slammed to the ground, into the insurance company window, etc. Everyone on the street was dialing 911. It took them 20 minutes to get there. (the woman is a homeless Native American woman who hangs around Safeway and Marvin Gardens park.) By the time the cops got there she was bleeding, and another guy had gotten into the fight.

Yeah, next time I'm suggesting that there MIGHT be a weapon.

I'm pretty sure it's illegal to lie to 911 to prioritize your own call. If we want better police response lets get up to a citizen to police officer ratio that is realistic.

Don't you guys think it's more the Aurora motels that are the problem? I bet that's where most of the illicit drugs are being used (that's where Cobain shot up, isn't it?). Not to mention the prostitution. That's also where the cops caught that meth head that was breaking into all the cars in Ballard/Greenwood.

But Nordic Woman is completely right. If you tell the cops there might be a gun, they will run right over. I've called the cops on a couple of domestic disturbance issues at work (I'm a health care provider), and they hem and haw until you say "I think he has a gun."

Sorry the case was Addington v. Texas and it was in 1979

That is the reason people were let out though.

Black Helicopter Operations,

There are a lot of things to blame Reagan for but this isn't one, what happened in the 80's is that SCOTUS decided that you can only involuntarily commit people if they are a danger to themselves or others.

Right, and it will be a junkie or dealer who kills someone. It's a matter of time. Then we can all sit around typing things like

"I am all for supporting the homeless, but not the one who butchered the old lady buying milk at 7 11. Those ones need professional help, we just dont have the resources to handle.. It's because Reagan cut funding in 1985...."

All you have to do is "mention" that you "think" you saw a gun. That gets some action.

I agree...there are a couple of groups of homeless in Ballard.
a. winos. They've been here a while, and probably used to live in the SRO housing on Ballard Avenue, before it was all cleaned up.
b. the homeless that are more or less trying to get back on their feet.
c. junkies; burglarizing stores, homes, cars, to get enough $$ for drugs.

Call the cops Nordic Woman? That's a good one. These types slip in and out of that alley, and the police are not going to take the crime in Ballard seriously until someone is murdered by one of these maniacs who have now called Ballard thier "turf". I mean, a woman was practically raped in that house last week, which is the only reason the cops showed up at least.

Mark my words, we will have some poor soul killed by a transient by the end of summer, and people will be stunned around Ballard. (Or say they just need to be put into shelters here to keep them from being so angry with the housed folks)

And no, I am not talking about the homeless, so save me the drama. I am talking about the criminals who have been given the keys to Ballard, and everyone knows they are not the homeless. We get it. They are different. Both a pain in the ass, but different.

Maybe the 7-11 security cameras have pictures of the people buying 6 cases of beer with the stolen money.

The SPD doesn't really have the manpower to do much follow up. They spend most of their time responding to calls.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-very-thi...

yeah lets risk 10 years in jail for Insurance Fraud for the $500 bucks in the safe. I'm sure thats what happened! Well thought out Tiktok

““almost knew where to go for the cash.””

"Employees."

Owner insurance scam!

This isn't just our problem, the economy slips, crime rates go up. This from an article in Business Standard (long link: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/rec...)

"The Police Executive Research Forum survey said that among the 100 agencies linking rise in crime to the economic crisis, about 40 per cent reported an increase in robberies and vehicle thefts, while more than 30 per cent said there have been an increase in the incidents of burglaries. The survey was conducted in December and January.

According to a survey conducted by Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum, nearly half the police agencies reported a surge in the crimes that can be attributed to the ongoing economic and financial crisis in the country."

Small businesses are especially vulnerable because they tend not to have the $$ to spend on security systems and their safes aren't built into the building.

This is awful! Please keep us posted on the investigation!

jm, that would require the SPD actually investigating the crimes.

Maybe the 7-11 security cameras have pictures of the people dumping the safe.

It sounds like they had a residential security container vs. a safe.

Having a real safe and bolting it to the floor/wall is a must for it do to any good.

most residential security containers just give the thieves an easy way to carry the loot.

SPD 2008 Midyear Crime Statistics:
http://www.seattle.gov/police/crime/STATS.htm

and the map with type that's hard to read:
Stats map:
http://web1.seattle.gov/seastats/doStatistics.aspx

We need to organize and PROTEST to the city, IMHO. IF you saw these guys selling wine, call the cops. I rather doubt they bought it from Portalis. IF this was going down behind the mayor's house in West Seattle, you had better believe that Seattle's Finest would be rounding up The Usual Suspects.

Someone on here said that they had a database of crime in Ballard. I'd like to see that.

I say we get together a meeting at Loyal Heights or Sunset Hill or the Ballard Community center, or the Library and get the police to come on down, and make our concerns public. The squeeky wheel gets the grease.

Stolen "Fine Wines" were being offered on Market street for sale, by some of the Meth Heads from the behind Ballard Sip and Ship Meth House yesterday. If your missing some, post something here.

75% of the crime wave comes from that house, alley and the guys hanging outside 7 11 every night, but you can say it til your blue in the face and zero will get done. Its sad.

I guess it's too obvious to even sink in. We would rather talk about Reagan letting people out of mental hospitals in 1985, than solve the obvious problem.

live in the neighborhood..Nordic woman..what is going on here? Been here 15 years and have never had to deal with all of this! we watch, we see, what can we all do?

whats happening to our hood?

Maria..go away

Ballard Guy - Scare 'em off, or give 'em a new target? I know you think Ballard is going to hell in a hand basket, but just imagine it with a flood of stolen guns hitting the street.

Maybe if they opened a Butch's Guns on Market it'd scare 'em off. I'd stop by for a pistola....

I'm glad for Chris that they at least found all the other items even if the safe & the cash are a loss.

This goes in the "it aint my grandmas Ballard" bin. Is this the price we have to pay for being a "big city"? Has anybody taken a look at Portland lately? Dee dee dee. Hello judges that have hands tied. Hello crafty lawyers. Hello crowded jails. Hello liberal city. When IS enough enough? How tolerant DO we all really have to get? This isn't time for NIMBYism. It is time for action and taking a few steps to "protect yer stuff".

Don't need the internet to connect the safe being found near 7-11 and all the homeless car campers in front of Woodland Park.

As for Nervous Nellies, I honestly dont think it was the employees. If I am correct they only have like 2 or 3.
Maybe an Ex-employee???
Either way it makes me feel uneasy.

Before the internet we had something called : newspapers. Also, if you know most of the store owners in your neighborhood, you are in fact likely to hear about any break-ins.

Thanks GS, I'm going to have to check that place out.

"“almost knew where to go for the cash.”"

Employees.

Ernie - We updated the top of the post with both addresses.

Also, that "Sun Cafe" looks good, where is it located?

One thing to remember is that before the internets (most of Nordic Woman's life?) you would never hear about these types of crimes unless you knew the people involved, so I don't think you can draw the conclusion that there is a dramatic increase in crime just because there is a dramatic increase in postings on a neighborhood blog.

I think My Ballard provides an awesome service by letting us know about what is going on in the neighborhood and providing the forum for discussion of local crime, but we need to keep in mind that burglary is not a new phenomena in Ballard.

Back in the late 80's my buddy and I walked into his apt on 20th st to find the door ajar and the burglars headed out the slider with a bunch of his stuff. Sounds just like that burglary posted on the forum last week.

i almost fainted once when i picked up an order of cupcakes from a local cupcake shop and found that they actually write your full credit card number, expiration date, billing zip code, and security code right on the back of your order slip! who knows what they do with these slips, but with the recent surge in break-ins, it terrifies me to know that some business still operate this way!

Of course all of these break-ins wouldn't have ANYTHING to do with all the homeless junkies lurking around, now would it? Of course not.

I have lived here my entire life, and I have never seen this kind of crime. Is there ANY business that has not been hit?

I was curious about what iloveseatown said about truncating credit card receipts, so I googled it. There's a FTC press release (http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/05/slipshowing.shtm) that says merchants must truncate the numbers and dates on printed credit card receipts that they give to the customer, but it's not required for merchant copies. I appreciate them truncating the information on my receipts, in case I lose them, but what about store break-ins like this?

"Doesn’t it seem a bit silly that the city government is focusing on more or less law-abiding (i.e. non-criminals) citizens with the leash law thing, while MyBallard is reporting crime after crime after crime, whether in the main part of the site or in the forums?"

"Criminals" are people who break laws.
"Thieves" are "criminals" who steal things.

These businesses need alarms systems.

Is there some type of insurance policy that a business can hold to cover something like this?

OK, somebody has to be the one to do it. I guess it is my turn.

Doesn't it seem a bit silly that the city government is focusing on more or less law-abiding (i.e. non-criminals) citizens with the leash law thing, while MyBallard is reporting crime after crime after crime, whether in the main part of the site or in the forums?

How large are these safes that are getting stolen? Seems like having a rather large (and ridiculously-heavy) safe would prevent a lot of these basic thefts... the whole reason they steal the safes is because they're too time-consuming to break into on-site, right?

Larson,

The FTC

Sun Cafe has one of the best lattes in Seattle- I highly suggest trying them out if you haven't already!

This is really sad. Small businesses are hurting as it is and then to have a theft.

iloveseatown - in regards to not truncating credit card numbers - who do you report it to?

Vacant Bowler,

I would report companies that don't truncate your credit card number on the receipt, it has been illegal to not truncate it for a few years now.

having been a victim of identity theft I don't mess around with that stuff.

Between the panhandlers and the crooks, it's hard to keep a business going in the Ballard area.

Is Sun Cafe cash/check only like Nervous Nellie's? That could be an incentive for break-ins. Although, I must admit, one thing that is nice about places that don't take cards is that when they are robbed, the robber does not have access to a multitude of credit card numbers. I'm amazed that some businesses still print your entire card number and exp. date on the credit slip they retain. I make sure to black that info out when signing...

This sucks.

I know Nervous Nellies is an all cash business. And it looks like at the Sun Cafe their safe was stolen, so its not like they weren't taking precautions.

Stores still need cash on hand to operate with when they open. And these two places open well before the banks do.

Maybe it would help if these stores made nightly deposits at the bank. It's inconvenient but that's what some larger stores do. It's never safe to leave money in the store -- and it just leads to more break-ins.

That makes me sad. I love going yo Nervous Nellies. I will make sure I go there this week for some Nutella bread. MMMM. Nutella.