This episode of the FOIA Files is brought to you by none other than We Heart Seattle Exposed and the results of our FOIA request with the Seattle Police Department.
Between September 25th, 2020 and March 28th, 2022, Andrea Suarez placed 52 known calls to the Seattle Police via 911, and we speculate that there are likely to be others that were not located with the search parameters we provided for the request.
We are still waiting on records to come back for April of 2022 onward.
At first glance
Of the 52 calls in the log tendered, 27 of them occurred between 9/25/20 and 12/31/20. Nine of them have an unknown resolution status and were for unknown reason, and the other 43 resulted in police presence at the scene of the reported incident. Some other interesting tidbits:
- 10 were dismissed because the officers dispatched to the scene were unable to locate the involved parties, including the reporter, or anything resembling the reported emergency.
- 34 have associated incident report numbers, meaning that reports were filed by responding officers.
The reasons behind the calls
Of the calls that indicate a call reason, the breakdown is as follows:
- 5 assault
- 5 suspicious persons or vehicles
- 5 public disturbances
- 3 narcotics
- 3 welfare checks
- 2 safety hazards
- 2 Lewdness
- 1 Overdose
- 1 Crisis
- 1 Theft
Notes reveal additional details about some of the incidents
Complaint
IN VERY CENTER, THERE IS A GENERATOR THAT HAS WIRES RUNNING INTO SEVERAL TENTS, RP SMELLED BURNING WIRES, AND FELT POSS MILD SHOCK WHEN WALKING THRU A PUDDLE NEAR THE GENERATOR
Resolution
SFD DETERMINED THE GERNERATOR TO NOT BE A FIRE HAZARD. GENERATOR WAS LEFT CHAINED TO THE STREET LIGHT AS IT WAS ON ARRIVAL. NOTHING FURHTER AT THIS TIME
Complaint
IN CRISIS OR HIGH MALE IN PARK, EXPOSING HIMSELF, DEFICATED IN PANTS, FLAILING HIS ARMS
Resolution
WHEN WE ARRIVED, HE SAW US AND THEN DECIDIED TO LEAVE THE PARK AND DIND’T APPEAR TO BE IN CRISIS OR COMMITTING ANY CRIMES.
Complaint
JUST NOW, MALE WAS SWINGING AROUND AN AXE AS RP WAS WALKING BY, RP FELT LIKE MALE DID THIS SCARE HER. RP HAS ALSO SEEN SUBJS THAT LIVE IN THESE TENTS CUTTING BRANCHES OFF TREES IN THE PARK TO USE AS FIREWOOD. NOT SEEN TODAY, ONLY PREVIOUSLY.
Resolution
NO ADDITIONAL WITNESS AT DENNY PARK.
Complaint
PER RP MALE STARTED YELLING AT HER BC SHE WAS TAKING PHOTOS OF JUNK THAT HE HAS PILED BY A TREE. PER RP SHE IS BEING FOLLOWED BY SUSP, SHE IS AT DEXTER/THOMAS
Resolution
PER RP SHE NOW SAYING SUSP IS STILL AT THE PARK, SO HE IS NOT FOLLOWING HER. RP GIVING CONFLICTING INFO NOW. NO CRIME. SPOKE WITH COMPL. ADVISED THAT DENNY PARK IS UNSAFE AS ARE MOST PUBLIC PARKS.
Complaint
COMPL BELIEVES THEY ARE LIKELY INSIDE THE BAR, AS SHE BELIEVES THEY ARE ASSOCIATED WITH A GANG OF GRAFFITI ARTISTS WHO TAG THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND HANGOUT HERE. COMPL REQ TO SPEAK WITH AN OFCR ABOUT “TAG-TOBER” SAYS SHE HAS BEEN DOING HER OWN RESEARCH ABOUT THE GRAFFITI IN THE AREA.THE VEH HAS SPRAY PAINT IN THE BACK, SAYS OFCRS NEED TO KNOW THAT A STRING OF GRAFFITI IS BEING PLANNED AND COMPL HAS INFO ABOUT IT.
More on the assault calls
Two of the reported assault-related incidents resulted in arrests and charges filed against the involved parties in each case respectively. In these instances, Suarez is the victim listed.
Upon further investigation, the first assault case involved a man who allegedly yelled at her and spit a large ball of phlegm that missed her, but landed inside of her car. The man was taken into custody and released 3 days later when the city declined to pursue a prosecution of his case. If memory serves us correctly, Suarez was vocal about this incident in the We Heart Seattle Facebook group at the time that it occurred, and she was “just trying to help” a mentally ill man who needed it.
The second assault incident, also a topic in the FOIA records that the Parks Department rendered, occurred at Sandel Park in late March of 2022 wherein a man living in the park threw a hatchet at Suarez. A long thread between a residential neighbor of the park and city officials reveals that Suarez had tried to take his tent just prior. We’re sure she was just trying to help then too. We don’t know what the man’s fate was as of yet, but it’s on our list for follow-up in the near future.
Just when we thought she might be learning
Following her tear in the 4th quarter of 2020, during which Suarez placed twenty-seven 911 calls, there was a six month period between January and June of 2021 where she made only three. Could it be possible that she was beginning to listen to others where it came to the general unhelpfulness of police presence in matters involving our unhoused neighbors (the reasons being too many to reiterate here and now, and not necessarily only applicable to the unhoused)?
Alas, Andrea Suarez made sure not only to dash any glimmer of hope that might be had, but she made sure to kill it dead in a fiery death of fire with seven 911 calls in July of 2021 and another three in August. She closed out the year having made seventeen calls to 911, or an average of approximately 1.5 calls per month. March of 2022 is a strong runner-up with five 911 calls as of the end of the time window for this particular FOIA request.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again.
Do better, Andrea. Please. For the love of humanity and all that is sacred to us. Be a good human or kindly step away from the ones that really need that from you. Until you open your ears and set your gaze upon something other than yourself, you are causing harm all around you and it’s devastating how blind you are to this. We kept hope that you would learn, and held the door open for you to catch up for as long as we could. Now it is only possible to hope for our relent, which will only ever happen if you do first. Until then, our scrutiny continues…
