SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Police Department announced a new police team on Tuesday.
The Spokane Police Dialogue Team is a branch of SPD’s Tactical (TAC) Team, which specializes in crowd management and civil disturbance response and control.
The new unit is modeled off of a program at a police department in Columbus, Ohio.
“Our sole purpose is to build relationships with our community members in a way that helps enhance their public safety and also encourages and protects their right to First Amendment activities,” said SPD’s Officer Karl Richardson.
Richardson said one of the main goals of the team is to enhance police legitimacy in the community.
“It means that the community is going to see us, understand what we are doing, and be able to work together with us in order to better facilitate public events for the safety of everyone involved and the assurance that their right to First Amendment speech is protected and safely executed,” he said.
Dialogue Officer wear blue long-sleeved shirts underneath their black police vests.
They will arrive early to public events and stay through the end to ensure everything runs smoothly and safely.
“One of the things that allows us to do is encourage others who are towing the line between free speech and criminal activity, it allows us to address that immediately so that it doesn’t escalate into something further,” Officer Richardson said.
For more information, visit City of Spokane Police Department Facebook page.
COPYRIGHT 2025 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
