Police take aim at motel known for drugs, prostitution and violence
SEATTLE -- Seattle police are taking drastic measures to get a notorious Georgetown motel to shape up or ship out.
The department announced Friday it had declared the Airlane Motel a Chronic Nuisance Property, which means the motel's owners have to agree to a host of corrective measures or risk losing their business license.
Police say the motel has long been a hotbed of crime that neighbors have begrudgingly had to put up with.
"(It's) not a typical motel. It doesn't have a pool, continental breakfast or Wifi. But it does have its own drug dealers, prostitutes, and plenty of violent crime," police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee said in a Friday statement.
Last year alone, the department received complaints about robbery, rape and domestic violence at the motel. In June, police say a man strangled his pregnant girlfriend in one of Airlane's rooms.
Issues like that, as well as the 46 911 calls made from the motel, led to the department taking the rare step of declaring the property a chronic nuisance.
In order for the motel to get back in the city's good graces, its owners will have to address a list of police demands.
The department wants the owners to install new security cameras, better secure the building, hire security guards, kick out trespassers and make sure guests aren't using drugs or engaging in prostitution.
Department officials say their goal is to address complaints from neighbors while also allowing the property owners to resolve the problems on their own.
"We do not take Chronic Nuisance complaints lightly," Lt. Hayes said in a news release. "It's a serious thing for us, but we want to use Nuisance Property Correction Agreements as a last resort."
SPD has scheduled a meeting later this month with the owners of the Airlane to address the ongoing issues.
The department announced Friday it had declared the Airlane Motel a Chronic Nuisance Property, which means the motel's owners have to agree to a host of corrective measures or risk losing their business license.
Police say the motel has long been a hotbed of crime that neighbors have begrudgingly had to put up with.
"(It's) not a typical motel. It doesn't have a pool, continental breakfast or Wifi. But it does have its own drug dealers, prostitutes, and plenty of violent crime," police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee said in a Friday statement.
Last year alone, the department received complaints about robbery, rape and domestic violence at the motel. In June, police say a man strangled his pregnant girlfriend in one of Airlane's rooms.
Issues like that, as well as the 46 911 calls made from the motel, led to the department taking the rare step of declaring the property a chronic nuisance.
In order for the motel to get back in the city's good graces, its owners will have to address a list of police demands.
The department wants the owners to install new security cameras, better secure the building, hire security guards, kick out trespassers and make sure guests aren't using drugs or engaging in prostitution.
Department officials say their goal is to address complaints from neighbors while also allowing the property owners to resolve the problems on their own.
"We do not take Chronic Nuisance complaints lightly," Lt. Hayes said in a news release. "It's a serious thing for us, but we want to use Nuisance Property Correction Agreements as a last resort."
SPD has scheduled a meeting later this month with the owners of the Airlane to address the ongoing issues.
Where is this? I need to go check it out before thay close it down. :)
It's like pushing down on an bubble pad. You might squish that bubble, but the air just goes somewhere else. It's not like the riffraff is suddenly going to shape up and become productive law abiding. It just moves down the road and becomes someone else's problem.
well they will just go to another place thats all, i say let them stay in one place as long as they stay over there..lol..there going to do it there or if not there somewere else so hell let them stay there the cops can make stings there cause it will be a known place!
Why did they wait so long?
really?
eeckkk... Nasty!
My husband works security at a motel I SeaTac. Every night there's a different story of who's doing drugs and the people who are there to service their clients. Management doesn't even care because they need the business!!
so never a dull moment
I doubt they just realized it. They just finally got tired of dealing with it I imagine.
It is not like they don't go shooting people in the back or something like that. It is better to know where it is then to scatter them to the four winds and have it happening in the streets.
Glad you can catch up to how it's been run in Tacoma for years Seattle PD. Chronic nuisance gets the boards on the doors. Do you want to live near this mess? No. Law abiding citizens prevail and the mess moves on down the road.
Who cares is like nothing else to do for police .
That place sounds kind of fun actually, I'm easily amused....;)
Ok so why don't they go through the court system like anyone else have to. Are they above the law? I say no no no
Is this the one off west marginal near Georgetown?
Well in that case Seattle should be put on notice too
I stayed at this motel recently. The service is excellent. At most hotels, you have to sneak in your prostitutes and drugs. This hotel has these services on offer via a quick dial to the service concierge, or just step outside the front door. And if you run out of needles, you can always find a few under the bed.Â
I liked it so much I stayed there again with my wife and her best friend.Â
Good!
So how long did it take them to figure this out?????
That motel has always been like that as long as its been there and the police just realized this lol
Adam - you are an idiot
I wonder if they charge by the hour? If this was in my neighbourhood I'd be pretty PO'd too.
Its about time its not like anybody doesn't know what goes on at that spot. Seriously?
I'd love to see someone do a black light test on the bedspreads there. Yuk!!
they should't bother them!
I just past close that place, a lot of cops, crazy !!!
Hopefully the city doesn't F with my reservations. It is a nightmare trying to get money back from Expedia.
Maybe if they make it a gun-free zone they will decrease the violence. Then after that they can work on making drugs and prostitution illegal. More laws make everything better!
might as well leave them alone. it will only drive them elsewhere.
Motel 6 was Obamas headquarters wasn't it?
Chad - When you are wasting police response on constant douchebaggery at one place then yeah, it needs a reality check.
Better close all the Motel 6's.
That sounds shady! the police state declares it so owners must comply?????
The cops should burn it down with tear gas.
GOOD! It's NOT like they don't know what's going on!
â@komonews: Police take aim at motel known for drugs, prostitution..." Considering SPD record of shooting anything people may misunderstand.
@theTVbetch very good thought!!!
Gee, I wonder if it has anything to do with Georgetown being the unwanted step-child of the City of Seattle? Or maybe the insistence of the city and King County in placing more halfway houses per capita in Georgetown than any other part of the city or county, including sex offenders.
Can we call it "Hotel Obama"?
Or would that be too forward?
@brewzbrothers Is there anything you people won't try to blame on President Obama? Why don't you just try placing the blame where it belongs, for a change.
....Really no different than the subsidized housing the city builds all over the South end of Seattle.....
It is interesting that the police have the authority, or think they do, to dictate conditions without the owners getting their day in court.I guess you only get the protection of our âlegal systemâ if you have been officially deemed a good guy by the media and the ruling socialists.When did the police get the authority to order a single business to install security cameras, hire security guards, and âmake sure guests aren't using drugs or engaging in prostitutionâ.That last one really breaks me up.Yes, there are some things the owners can do.They can look for unusual activity, such as large numbers of non-guest people going in and out, but they canât stop it all.There is zero way they can âmake sure guests are not using drugsâ for instance.Not without violating the âguestsâ constitutional rights.Their whole edict is so out of the bounds of due process, it could never hold up in a real court.This is not the way a democracy with a working legal system handles this sort of problem.
@oldster70 The idea is that you protect the innocent and uphold decent folk. If a place is a sh** hole and the owner doesn't give a rip about the crime it draws and generates then why would we play a game of pretend that they are a Libertarian poster child of awesome entrepreneurial fervor?  The bar is quite high for getting anything designated a nuisance property. People in that community have to put up with a lot for a long time before this happens. Not everything is a government conspiracy and folks who are worried about this place's rights should go ahead and move next store and enjoy it as a neighbor.Â
@oldster70 The Chief of Police doesn't just 'dictate' anything. The property has to prove that it is a problem area. Here are the standards in case you're interested in facts instead of just the ones made up in your head:"The Chief of Police may declare that a property is a chronic nuisance property, as defined in this chapter, when there are specific facts and circumstances documenting (1) the occurrence of three or more nuisance activities on a property within sixty days or seven or more nuisance activities within a twelve month period, or (2) activity on a property as described in SMC 10.09.010(4)(b). The Chief of Police shall provide written notice of this declaration to the persons in charge of the property."
Is this motel so much different than taxpayer-funded low-income housing? Â
I love that picture! The black and white gives it such a homey kind of Bates Motel feel and the creeper van parked on the side ties it together oh so well, ya think? The perfect place to put up the in-laws for their next visit.
IT LOOKS WELL KEPT. did they pay their property taxes? Nothing wrong with prostitution and drugs- they're just illegal.