Lakewood, WA has become one of the most dangerous cities in the state of Washington having a 61% higher crime rate then the state average, increasing by 24% from 2019 to 2020. Lakewood’s crime rate is also higher by 108% then national average. Why is the rate growing so fast? Some growth of crime could be because of the increase in poor income families within Lakewood, some people have to “rely” on theft and burglary as a source of profit to feed their families. Due to the growth of homelessness, many homeless people have migrated from bigger cities and towns which also includes a big increase of loitering, theft, assault and drug abuse. The increase of gangs and their activities have an influence on the youth causing them to think that these types of acts are fun and make them look cool, initiating them to participate in some of the main crimes occurring across Lakewood.

In the first week of October, there has been six counted acts of grand theft auto in the town center and two incidents that have occurred near Lakes High School. How as a community can we fix this major problem of theft and assault in our town? There won’t be an easy solution from the start but if we work all together as a town, we can protect our homes and families from the growing crime rates. Here are some ways we can begin to help, setting up a neighborhood watch or a community patrol to alert our neighbors about crimes near them, setting up cameras and sensors around your home to alert you of break ins or other crimes when you are not in the area, download crime alerting apps such as Citizen, Crime & Place, Eyetem, and Naber which lets you know of  recently documented illegal activities in your neighborhoods.

These two images display the active crimes ranging from yellow: theft to armed robbery, and red: assault to a multitude of violent crimes. The first photo marks the month of September while the second shows the month of October.