SPOKANE, Wash. —The Spokane Police Department has spent the last few month adjusting to new camping regulations.
SPD’s south precinct presented data on how that is going in a September 8th Public Safety and health Committee meeting. It found that out of 120 calls, 212 contacts were made, out of which 0 ended up in arrests. The department says that is because all the people camping were willing to either cooperate and leave the area or get connected with resources.
The numbers come after the City of Spokane implemented the ‘H.O.M.E. Starts Here’ plan, which includes new camping rules. You can read more about that here.
The plan replaces proposition 1, which Spokane voters approved but the Washington State Supreme Court later overturned. That proposition banned people from camping within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, and daycare centers.
“A lot of these folks, many of them aren’t actually out committing crimes that we get called on. It’s that they’re experiencing homelessness,” said Assistant Police Chief Steve Wohl.
Wohl said his department already followed much of the new protocol, but officers now focus more on connecting people with community resources.
“It requires us to have a more engagement approach,” Wohl said.
The data showed several people camping illegally were repeat contacts, meaning police had dealt with them before. Wohl expected this pattern.
“We see a lot of the same people over and over,” he said. “A lot of these folks are experiencing multiple issues, and so you know, a lot of times, you’ll see behavioral health, drug related homelessness all combined in an individual experiencing at the same time.”
The South Precinct’s data collection is a pilot program for citywide implementation. Police said this approach will create a more unified response to homeless camping across Spokane.
Police hope the data will help them better serve the community.
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