FWPD advises seniors about staying safe from scams and more

Representatives from the Federal Way Police Department recently spoke to local seniors about how to avoid and report crime.

At the Nov. 13 meeting of the Federal Way Senior Commission, FWPD community engagement coordinator Tiffany Clemmings discussed various topics such as crime prevention, situational awareness, preventing vehicle theft, home safety, reporting a crime, and common scams.

Describing a “triangle of crime,” she said that for a crime to occur, there needs to be three elements: desire, ability and opportunity.

Clemmings said the choice to commit a crime depends on whether the criminal has the tools, resources, or ability to do so, which some people also don’t have a lot of control over. But the one thing that people do have some control over is mitigating criminals’ opportunities to commit crimes.

“Crime prevention awareness plays a key role in reducing that opportunity portion. So often times you’ll hear people that work for the police department and officers say this, ‘It was a crime of opportunity, left your car door open, left your garage open,’ or just other things that you can do,” Clemmings said at the senior commission’s monthly Steel Lake Presbyterian Church-sponsored lunch at the Federal Way Community Center. “And it’s not placing the blame on you, it’s just understanding that we may have a little bit more control than we believe. So crime prevention starts with you.”

Clemmings then described how she uses situational awareness. For example, when she’s leaving work, especially because it’s getting darker outside sooner, she pays attention when walking to her car.

Clemmings said situational awareness has multiple parts. She said people can be situationally aware by paying attention to what’s happening around them, gathering information such as if there are road blockages, or by anticipating what might happen next, and taking action to address potential situations.

As for auto theft, Clemmings highlighted which vehicles are stolen most often, with the most stolen from highest to lowest being the Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima, Chevrolet Silverado, Kia Soul, Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Kia Forte, Ford F150 and Kia Sportage. She said reporting that a car has been stolen is important because if the vehicle is reported within 24 hours of being stolen, the likelihood of it being found increases by 34%.

Regarding auto theft in Federal Way, Clemmings said in 2024 there has been a 50% decline since 2023. In 2023, there were 1,744 auto thefts, and as of Sept. 2024, there were 865.

When reporting crimes, Clemmings said that if people are reporting emergencies or a crime in progress, they should call 911. If people are reporting non-emergency crimes, such as suspicious people, they should call 253-835-2121. However, she said that when in doubt, call 911.

Clemmings said the top senior scams are tech support scams, government imposter scams, grandparent scams and romance scams. She then went through an activity with the seniors in which she showed them different messages and asked them whether they thought they were scams.

Although she taught the seniors about various topics, Clemmings said she learned a lot from them, and their honesty helped.

“I feel like they’re radically honest, and that’s my favorite thing to really know. I also think they have a true pulse or heartbeat about what’s going on in Federal Way,” Clemmings said. “We have a lot of seniors who have been here for over 20 years, and I’ve just been in my position for a year. So there are a lot of things they’re teaching me.”