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FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2013
Cameras: Extra set of eyes for police By Brian Beckley bbeckley@rentonreporter.com
Surveillance cameras peek out from behind a pillar at the Piazza Renton. Brian Beckley, Renton Reporter
They sit silently, stoically, high on poles and under overhangs, forever watching, unflinching and unblinking. But together, the city’s video surveillance system at the Metro Transit Center, parks and other city buildings are a constant workforce for the police department, recording all they see and aiding in both evidence collection and
in some cases, such as last week’s shooting in Liberty Park, helping as a real-time investigative arm of the department. The city’s camera force, which numbers about 60, has been in use for several years, but recently some of the cameras have been upgraded to the Avigilon System, which provide access to high-definition images from nearly all police department computers, including all of those in patrol cars. According to Sgt. Russ Radke, head of the
city’s Directed Enforcement Team and responsible for the downtown and transit center areas, the cameras are all put in places where the police would like to be but can’t. “It’s been very helpful,” Radke said, adding that so far there have been “more advantages than we anticipated.” The cameras allow the police to better use their resources, Radke said. For example, a
Building dreams, one nail at a time Habitat for Humanity volunteers from all across the country help build homes at La Fortuna
Seattle woman shot to death in Liberty Park By DEAN A. RADFORD dradford@rentonreporter.com
TRACEY COMPTON tcompton@rentonreporter.com
Habitat for Humanity of Seattle-King County may get families into homes faster, including in Renton, thanks to work completed last week during an annual AmeriCorps Build-a-Thon. The weeklong event, hosted by Habitat for Humanity International, brought about 120 AmeriCorps members from 11 states and 27 Habitat for Humanity affiliates to the Seattle area. About 30 visiting AmeriCorps members put the finishing touches on five homes at the La Fortuna site, close to Lindbergh High School. They also helped with construction on three more homes. When the La Fortuna project is complete, there will be a total of 41 Habitat-built townhouses there. Habitat for Humanity of Seat-
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Andrew Castillo of Denver works on a Habitat for Humanity project at La Fortuna in Renton, as part of a Build-a-Thon last week. tracey compton, Renton Reporter tle-King County is one of 1,600 affiliates of the organization around the country, building, repairing or renovating homes to house low-income families. AmeriCorps’ skilled volunteer members were also at Rainier Vista in Seattle and The Woods at Golden Given in Tacoma
working on homes there. The week included activities and sight-seeing in Seattle for recreation during the Build-a-Thon. The goal of the event was to help AmeriCorps members reflect on why they serve community projects like this, advance the construction schedule of
local projects and examine ways to better serve communities through forging partnerships in different neighborhoods. Attending the Build-a-Thon event was Andrew Castillo’s first opportunity to visit the [ more fortuna page 2 ]
Renton Police are continuing to investigate a May 22 shooting at Liberty Park that left a 20-year-old Seattle woman dead. Lonnie Reynolds died at Harborview Medical Center at about 9:50 a.m. May 23 of a single gunshot to her torso. Her death was ruled a homicide by the King County medical examiner. Multiple calls to 911 were received at about 8:30 p.m. about the shooting at the park in downtown Renton. Officers found the injured woman lying on the east side of the park. Investigators found nine shell casings or pieces of lead at the park. Based on witness accounts and city video monitoring, police learned that two women got into a fistfight, each with a group of associates, according to Detective Robert Onishi, a Renton Police spokesman. At least one man from each of the groups pulled a gun and shots were fired between the groups, according to Onishi. The shooting occurred not far from the children’s play area at the park. A male subject was detained nearby on Park Avenue and questioned by the police, then released.
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