SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane is addressing public camping and fentanyl concerns with an adjustment to the Engagement and Enforcement ordinance, part of Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown’s H.O.M.E. Initiative.
“The message I want to deliver today is that the people of Spokane are all united around the goals of ending public camping,” Mayor Brown said. “We want fentanyl out of our city, and we want the producers and purveyors of this drug held accountable.”
Mayor Brown explained that’s why her office is drafting an ordinance to provide increased tools to Spokane Police Officers.
Police Chief Kevin Hall acknowledged the need for change in current enforcement methods.
“We recognize that some of the things we’ve tried in the past just aren’t working,” Hall said. “The first thing you are going to see change is the home ordinance.
Hall explained that officers will have the choice to arrest or provide transport to a facility.
“Officers can leverage the arrest or the discretion not to arrest by directing people to and giving transportation to this facility. In many cases, that’s what they need is the facility and not jail,” Hall said.
Despite this, Hall clarified that the jail will still be used, pointing to a data-driven “high utilizers program.”
“These folks, all of whom have charges, I’ve seen the list, They will go to jail,” Hall said.
The program will utilize 10 dedicated jail beds for care and stabilization.
“I just want to throw a caveat here,” Hall said. “These are the most chronic, highest acuity clients we have out there. This is not going to be easy.”
But, he explained, this process is part of what he called “Compassionate Policing,” which Hall says remains a focus for the department.
Hall explained that changes to the home ordinance offer officers an additional tool rather than indicating lax enforcement.
“There has been enforcement,” Hall said. “There are thousands of arrests in Spokane City every year. The enforcement is just one tool.”
