SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane’s long-standing partnership with Community Oriented Police Services (COPS) is undergoing significant changes after more than 30 years. Ongoing contract discussions between the city and the nonprofit have ended without an agreement, leading to concerns about the future of neighborhood safety programs. The city and COPS have been in contract negotiations for about four months. A city representative stated, “We’ve been going back and forth with COPS for about four months trying to seek a resolution on this contract… at this point, we needed to move forward and they did not meet those deadlines. So we have withheld that funding and we’re going to look at new opportunities of what we can do with it.” COPS, which has relied on city funding since 1992 for its volunteer-driven crime prevention programs, did not undergo the competitive contractor process typically required by the city. “We’re just bringing it kind of back to basics,” a city spokesman said. Jeff Johnson, executive director of COPS, expressed surprise at not being offered the entire contract. “We were quite surprised when we weren’t offered the entire contract,” said Johnson. He added that the terms of the contract were too open-ended, with concerns that the city might take control over established programs. Erin Hutt, a city spokeswoman, noted that COPS was given $500,000 per year during their last five-year contract. However, in March, COPS declined to sign a new contract that involved monitoring businesses and areas after crimes occurred, as well as conducting outreach for marginalized communities. “They did not provide a sufficient answer for outreach to marginalized communities,” Hutt stated. As a result, COPS is downsizing, with four board members laid off and the West office closing. Johnson commented, “I would have that money in right now, but they have… their intent was to starve us out, in my opinion, and that’s exactly what they have done.” Despite these challenges, Johnson emphasized that COPS is not disappearing. “We may look different soon, but we’re not going away,” he said. The city had hoped COPS would continue their programs under the new deal, but services and $120,000 earmarked for outreach will now be allocated to other organizations.
