SPOKANE, Wash. — If the city council members approve Mayor Woodward's updates to the city's sit and lie ordinances, public camping would be illegal on almost all downtown sidewalks and Spokane police would help enforce those laws.
A big question right now is what exactly that enforcement would look like and if the police department even has the resources to respond to every complaint if the mayor's proposal is approved by city council.
"People are camping in front of you business, laying in front of your business, just creating problems and discontent," Downtown Spokane Partnership Chairman Chris Batten said.
Batten says businesses are on board with Mayor Woodward's proposal.
"The feedback has been positive for sure," Batten said.
Camping would be prohibited at all times under viaducts, near the river and in all areas of the downtown business improvement district.
"I think those businesses closest to the track are the most impacted on a day-to-day basis you know, on either side of the track, of the railroad underpasses, but it's throughout downtown."
The city already has laws on the books prohibiting camping in public spaces, but the Ninth Circuit Court ruled in 2018 that cities cannot cite or arrest homeless campers when there isn't enough shelter space available.
"We think it's the right ordinance at the right time," Batten said. "It certainly meets or exceeds the expectations of Martin v. Boise."
Before 2018, police could ticket and arrest people for sitting, lying and camping in areas they aren't allowed to. Even then, Cpl. Nick Briggs says the department's philosophy has never been enforcement first.
"We are always trying to solve the situation," Briggs said. "Even prior to the Martin decision, trying to solve the situation in some other way, connecting people to services, finding people a more suitable place."
Writing tickets or taking people to jail was a last resort. Now, it's not really an option.
"It is much harder now to kind of have that last line of problem solving ability if somebody is willfully refusing to leave and continuing to maintain a potentially dangerous situation," Briggs said.
So, if the mayor's proposal passes in city council and officers have more enforcement tools available, will SPD even have the forces to respond?
"There are areas where we're not always able to provide the level of service that we want to in every category and violent crime will always be our top priority," Briggs said. "Solving violent crime and preventing violent crime. So, yeah if there are areas competing we may not be able to locate all those resources that we want."
The downtown Spokane partnership hired an independent law firm to analyze the Martin v. Boise case. They determined the City could take steps to clear out encampments downtown with a low risk of violating the court ruling. The firm also indicated that the city runs a higher risk of getting sued by businesses of they don't address public camping concerns.
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