SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Police Department is backing a proposed ordinance that would consolidate several existing laws regulating public camping and sidewalk use into a single, uniform policy applicable throughout the city.
Assistant Police Chief Steve Wohl said the current system creates enforcement challenges because of varying restrictions across different parts of the city.
“There were different restrictions downtown than there were, say, up in North Spokane or northwest or south Spokane,” Wohl said.
The proposed ordinance would establish consistent rules and enforcement procedures citywide. Under the new approach, individuals found camping in public areas would be given a seven-day grace period to relocate before being referred to community court.
During that week-long period, outreach workers would connect individuals with appropriate services based on their specific needs.
“Whether it be mental health, whether it be drug-related or medical, [we’ll] get that taken care of,” Wohl said. “And what we can do with this is it allows outreach partners to come in and get them connected so that they don’t have to live on the streets if they don’t choose to do that.”
Under current ordinances, responses to illegal camping vary from citations to referrals to community court, depending on the specific law being enforced and the location.
“Instead of having some ordinances where we would cite an individual or enforcement would be to a community court, or give a citation, with this now, there are no restrictions,” Wohl said.
However, homeless advocates have expressed concerns about the proposal. Julie Garcia of Jewels Helping Hands worries that the ordinance criminalizes homelessness without providing adequate alternatives.
“We create laws with no infrastructure to support those laws, and then they don’t work,” Garcia said. “There has to be a place where we are not arresting people for existing.”
Despite these concerns, Garcia acknowledged that the proposed changes could benefit those experiencing homelessness by reducing certain barriers created by the current enforcement approach.
“There are a lot of things in this ordinance that would make it easier for people experiencing homelessness to not be stuck with the barriers of enforcement, although enforcement is necessary at some point,” she said.
The proposed camping ordinance is one component of Spokane’s broader “Home Starts Here” initiative, which aims to address various factors contributing to homelessness in the city.
The city council is expected to review the proposal in the coming weeks, though a specific vote date has not been announced.
COPYRIGHT 2025 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
