Vol. 5 & 6 12 / 2001

Do hoang Nghia phutavanthu@yahoo.com or nthihoang@aol.com

Crime Rates in Rainier Beach, WA

Sociological Research by VVN disciple Hoang-Nam

Crime in general has been on a slow decline in the city of Seattle. Despite this, the crime rate is disproportionally high in the south end of Seattle. Although the population of North Seattle is much higher than South Seattle, the overall crime rate is nearly the same. This paper will focus only on the Rainier Beach area, which for the sake of convenience will consist of census tracts 117, 118, and 119. We will also limit offenses to part 1-index crimes, which consist of murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft, and auto theft.

Rainier Beach is located in Southeast Seattle along the shore of Lake Washington.

In 1869 Joseph Dunlap brought his family to the area from Iowa by wagon and was the first homesteader in the area. Those who settled south of the Dunlap's claim and close to Lake Washington called their community Rainier Beach. During the late 1800's communication with Seattle was done through forest trails or through the Duwamish and Black Rivers (the Black River disappeared in 1917). In 1884, rails and overhead wires of the Seattle and Rainier Beach Railway connected Seattle to Rainer Beach. This reduced the travel time to a mere two hours - an improvement over what used to be a day-long trip. By 1903, Rainier Beach was among the best places in the area to own a home. It's scenic setting and quaint location was the main attraction to potential home owners. By 1907, Seattle annexed Rainier Beach into the city as well as other communities in the Rainier Valley (Historylink, 2001).

During World War II the Seattle Housing Authority constructed Seward Park Estates, which would house war workers and low-income residents following the war. It was considered the worst apartment complex in the city of Seattle and became a symbol of the crime and poverty that would come to exist in Rainier Beach. In the decades that followed the war, the level of crime increased, causing local businesses to close. The high crime rate allowed buyers to purchase reasonably priced properties that had deteriorated over time. A $22 million partnership between both public and private agencies managed to transform the slum into homes for 800-1,000 working-class residents. Since 1993 serious crime began to drop dramatically and community leaders were able to attract businesses back to the area (Historylink, 2001). Today, Rainier Beach’s residents are almost evenly balanced between whites, African-Americans, and Asian and Pacific Islanders.

According to 1999 police data, the population of South Seattle is 158,446 (SPD 18). The Rainier Beach community alone is home to 19,850 people (U.S. Bureau of the Census 2000). The majority are Asian-American and African-American with the exception being tract 119 where whites are the majority albeit by a very small number. Whites make up about 24% of the Rainier Beach population with 4,782 individuals. African-Americans number in at 5,952 accounting for 30% of the population. Asians are the largest group and account for roughly 34% of the population with 6,694 people (U.S. Bureau of the Census 2000). The remaining 12% consist of American Indians, Alaska natives, Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, Hispanic or Latino, people who classify themselves as two or more races, and individuals who considered themselves of some other race alone. The majority of them are people of two or more races and followed by the Latino/Hispanic population.

Table 1: Total Part 1 Offenses (1999)

Tract Murder/Negl Rape Robbery Aggrav. Res. Burglary Non. Res. Theft Auto Theft Arson

Homicide Assault Buglary

117 0 0 4 16 35 32 93 45 1

118 1 10 67 67 72 34 330 85 2

119 0 3 7 30 39 8 117 57 1

In 1999, the total part 1 offenses for the Rainier Beach area was 1,156 (SPD Annual Report, 24). The total part 1 offenses for South Seattle were 11,426 (SPD Annual Report, 18). Tract 118 is among 15% of the Seattle census tracks that were considerably above the median which is 302 crimes (SPD Annual Report, 25). Tracts 117 and 119 were a bit below the median with 226 and 262 respectively. Table 1 shows the total number of part 1 offenses for the Rainier Beach area. The overwhelming majority of crimes committed were theft which numbered in at 540 incidents and accounts for 46.7% of the total crimes in the area. Violent crimes were considerably above the median of 16 in tract 118. There were a total of 205 violent crimes committed in the Rainier Beach area in 1999 with 145 of those coming from tract 118 alone (SPD Annual Report, 24).

Rainier Beach’s diverse population makes it unique compared to many of Seattle’s other communities. Asian immigrants and African-Americans make up the large majority of residents in the area. Statistics on race and crime show that although African-Americans make up just 12% of the population, they account for 30.4% of all arrests for part 1-index crimes (Adler, Mueller, and Laufer, 50). In Rainier Beach where African-Americans comprise 30% of the population, one would expect the overall crime rate to be exceedingly high. Referring back to Table 1, we see that only tract 118 is above the median while tracts 117 and 119 are below the median. In looking at the percentage of African-Americans in each individual tract, there is no significant difference. Tract 118 is 33% African-American while 117 and 119 are 26% and 30% respectively. These statistics show that while the African-American population in Rainier Beach may be high, there are many more variables to consider such as whether black neighborhoods are being monitored more heavily than white neighborhoods or the unfair treatment of African-Americans by the criminal justice system. Something else to consider is the aging-out phenomenon.

Table 2: Rainier Beach Population by Age (2000)

Age Tract 117 Tract 118 Tract 119

5-9 years 351 546 566

10-14 years 384 559 526

15-17 years 245 300 315

18-19 years 155 221 174

20-24 years 358 470 377

25-29 years 345 593 434

30-34 years 392 598 543

35-39 years 375 589 574

40-44 years 393 623 625

45-49 years 411 591 573

50-54 years 338 470 472

55-59 years 226 372 342

Arrests rates start to decline after individuals reach the age of 30. This is true even among people who frequently commit crimes in their youth. Rainier Beach is predominately made up of people over the age of 30, however, as Table 2 shows, adults are not an overwhelming majority within the community. It is difficult to conclude that age has a strong correlation to the crime rate, especially when you compare Seattle’s total juvenile part 1 offenses of 1,575 referrals to Seattle’s total of 47,808 (SPD Annual Report, 24).

Another variable to consider is how many residents own their homes in the Rainier Beach area. Spatial distribution studies contend that high rates of mobility bring a weak moral order. A community of low home ownership may lack a clear moral order since mobility is high and residents feel no sentimental attachment to the community. This idea is strongly supported by rates of home ownership versus renter occupied housing. Both tracts 117 and 119 have noticeably high levels of home ownership with 76.4% and 81.2% of residents owning their homes respectively. This can be correlated with the relatively low rates of crime in both areas. Tract 118 on the other hand has a low level of home ownership when compared with the other two. Only 52.7% of the residents in tract 118 own their homes.

Table 3: Household Statistics for Rainier Beach (2000)

Tract Total Households Total Percentage Percentage w/ own

children under 18 yrs

117 1,588 74.2 35.6

118 2,659 62.8 32.3

119 2,475 72.9 33.8

In addition to home ownership, the number of families living in an area can be correlated to the crime rate. If a community’s population is primarily made up of detached individuals rather than family households then fewer social ties will result. This in turn will result in fewer attachments to the community. Lack of sentimental attachments to kinship groups will eliminate variables such as the desire to please one’s parents or the fear of bringing shame to one’s family. Table 3 shows the total number of family households in the Rainier Beach area. Tracts 117 and 119 show a large proportion of their populations being part of a family household. Consequently, there is less crime in those areas. In addition, over a third of the population has at least one child under the age of 18. This shows that age alone is a weak correlate of crime rates in Rainier Beach. Tract 118 can be seen as a community of few attachments when one looks at the percentage of family households. Only 62.8% of the tract 118 population is part of a family household. Coupled with the high rate of mobility in the area, family occupied homes can be a very strong correlation to the high crime rate in tract 118.

This can be supported by Ernest Burgess’ assertion that areas of high mobility have juvenile delinquency, crime, poverty, and gangs. Rainier Beach is home to all of the above. Mobility, according to Burgess is characterized by adventure (Burgess, 58). In areas like Rainier Beach, adventure can be expressed through crimes like robbery and assault. In contrast to high levels of mobility, individuals might be more reluctant to move if they have family living in the area, which seems to be evident in tracts 117 and 119.

Table 4:

Percentage of Seattle high-school seniors failing to meet graduation requirements

School 1999-00 2000-01

Ballard 30 19

Cleveland 32 17

Franklin 26 16

Garfield 18 19

Hale 22 17

Ingraham 27 18

Rainier Beach 33 37

Roosevelt 15 8

Sealth 32 19

West Seattle 41 32

Another strong correlation with a high crime rate is education. Only 28% of prison inmates have completed high school so one would expect a low level of education in the Rainier Beach area (Adler et al. 49). 2000 census data for educational attainment has not been posted as of yet but the graduation rates for local area high schools is available. Last year, Rainer Beach High School had the poorest graduation rate out of all the Seattle high schools. As Table 4 shows, 37% of seniors at Rainer Beach High School failed to meet the graduation requirements (Seattle Times). RBHS is one of only two Seattle high schools that actually did worse than the year before. The other was Garfield High School but even their 2001 graduation rate was just 1% lower than the previous year compared to Rainier Beach’s 4% difference.

While educational attainment seems like it bears a strong correlation to Rainier Beach’s high rate of crime, it has one potential uncertainty. The class of 2001 was the first class to be required to have a C average by the end of the school year. This 2.0 grade point average was required of all graduating seniors and it could have an effect on the graduation rate. While most of the data in Table 3 shows overall improvement in the graduation rate, all things cannot be considered equal since none of the prior graduating classes had a 2.0 GPA requirement.

I am currently a tutor at Aki Kurose Middle School Academy where many of the students are residents of Rainier Beach. I've had an opportunity to not only tutor the students but to get to know some of them. I was curious to know how they viewed their school as well as their neighborhood. I grew up in Montclair, California which resembled Scott Greer’s Community of Limited Liability a great deal. My classmates were of similar status as I was for the most part. The majority of people in my neighborhood were what Greer called, “neighbors” (Greer). Schools were funded well enough to give the students many extracurricular activities such as after school sports and clubs and in addition to that, classrooms had numerous multimedia devices such as computers, laser disc players, and television monitors. Interaction with them was casual and was usually limited to just the neighborhood setting. Since interaction with others in the neighborhood was fairly rare, there was no moral order that governed behavior other than the law. People abided by the law because it was enforced, not because necessarily because it would benefit everyone the same way.

In contrast to my old neighborhood, Rainier Beach more closely resembles Burgess’ idea of the area in transition. The area underwent a stage of gentrification when the slums were transformed into homes for working class people. Rainier Beach’s low cost housing has attracted a diverse group of people of many different ethnicities – many being immigrant families just like Burgess model. Its location is near the downtown business district although perhaps not as close as Burgess’ model might suggest.

During my first week at Aki Kurose, I was told that a local newspaper reporter would be visiting the school. I imagined that the students would be excited about the idea of their school being represented in the local newspaper. Such was not the case, however. The students I spoke to were indifferent to the idea of being a story in the newspaper. When I asked them how they viewed their school, the words I heard most were, "fights" and "violence." Among the students that I spoke to, there seemed to be very little sentimental attachment to the school. This was obvious when a book reading marathon was coming. Aki Kurose was going to compete with another middle school and help raise money. The other school beat them badly the previous year but it didn't seem to matter to some of the students. Many did not feel compelled to avenge that loss and chose to just stay home instead.

While there did not seem to be a great deal of attachment towards the school, many students had an attachment to their peers. Not necessarily their close peers, but rather their fellow students in general. This is evident in how they view each other and how peer pressure plays a role in their behavior. The students I spoke to commented on how you have to fight when someone else initiates it. There seemed to be a certain amount of respect given to students who are suspended for brawling in school. One boy I tutored bragged about beating up another boy who was flashing rival gang signs. The willingness to start a fight on school grounds over something like that shows just how influential peer groups can be. Another boy I tutored was a soft-spoken and well-mannered student at the beginning of the quarter but towards the end of the quarter started acting more rebellious. He became unruly and stopped turning most of his work in on time. I wondered why his behavior had taken such a turn for the worst and took the matter up with my supervisor. I then learned that some of his peers were associated with a local Hispanic gang. He was short for an 8th grader and was being teased about it. In addition, he was teased for being such a smart and straight-laced student. He had to do away with the only one of those qualities that he could: his studious and respectful nature. So rather than staying himself, he conformed to the expectations of his peers so he could fit in better.

Through my observations of the students at Aki Kurose there seem to be a lack of attachment to school and community, it cannot be considered indicative of the entire school nor the community in general. The majority of the students I tutored and interacted with were in danger of failing their classes. My experiences cannot be considered typical since there were some students who did well in school and the fact that I was not able to talk to them makes my observations biased. The observations and assertions that I’ve made involving the students at Aki Kurose may be consistent with the ideas of attachment and Burgess’ area of transition but cannot be used as direct evidence since the methods used are flawed since the subjects were not chosen at random.

The high mobility among residents of Rainier Beach may be the strongest correlate to the high crime rate. The low level of home ownership can possibly explain the lack of local attachments in tract 118. Tracts 117 and 119 have much higher numbers of homeowners as well as much lower levels of crime. Rainer Beach used to be a very desirable place to live in the city of Seattle since its location allowed direct access to the center of the city via railway. However, with the improvements in transportation and indirect communication, Rainer Beach’s most advantageous qualities were greatly diminished. With the arrival of cheaper and poor quality housing, Rainier Beach would become a crime-ridden area that would attract lower class individuals, minorities, and immigrants.

Despite the relatively high crime rate, statistics do show that crime is on the decline overall. Residential development and improvement in the area can be tied to the decreasing crime rate and businesses are beginning to come back to Rainer Beach. Perhaps community attachments will begin to get stronger in time and residents will have a more positive view of their physical community. Schools like Aki Kurose heavily promote school and neighborhood pride in order to present a more uplifting view of the community in a more sentimental way. After school programs and volunteer work are just a few of the things they are utilizing in order to develop stronger bonds with the students and their families. It seems time is all that is needed since the city has been going through a gradual rejuvenation process since 1993. As crime begins to decline and the neighborhood slowly builds itself back up, it will be interesting to see the community statistics for Rainier Beach on the 2010 census.

Works Cited

Ervin, Keith. (2000, March 31). Diplomas are at risk for 1 in 4 in Seattle. The Seattle

Times, pp. A1, A9.

Wilma, David. (2001, March 20) Rainier Beach – Thumbnail History. In History Link

Database Output [Online]. Available: http:www.historylink.org/ output. CFM? file_ID=3116 [2001, March 20]

Seattle Police Department. (2000). Seattle Police Department 1999 Annual Report

Seattle, WA: Academy Press.

U.S. Bureau of the Census. (2001). [Online]. Avalailable: http://factfinder.census.gov/

Adler, Freda, Mueller, O.W. Gerhard, & Laufer, S. William. (1998). Criminology.

Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.

Greer, Scott. (1962) “The Community of Limited Liability”, pp. 107-137, in The

Emerging City, New York: The Free Press.

Burgess, E.W. (1925) “The Growth of the City”, pp. 47-62, in R.E. Park, E.W. Burgess,

and R.D. McKenzie (eds.), The City. University of Chicago Press.

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