SPOKANE, Wash. — Due to a recent change made by the Spokane County Commissioners, law enforcement no longer needs to ensure shelter beds are available before enforcing the county’s public camping ordinance.
Since 2019, the county was unable to enforce it’s prohibition on camping in public unless shelter beds were available. Now, due to the County Commissioners Monday vote, deputies are able to enforce the rule, regardless of shelter bed availability, in unincorporated areas.
“We have to make sure that our parks in our neighborhood and our community are safe for everyone to use them,” said Dave Ellis, Spokane Valley Police Chief.
Spokane County Sheriff’s Office Sheriff John Nowels said that even though they are now able to enforce the ordinance, handing out citations isn’t always the only course of action.
“[We] figure a way out to help the person find a place to stay and try to get them connected to resources. We try to respect the fact they have all of their personal belongings with them,” he said.
Sheriff Nowels said finding a helpful solution to getting someone off the streets is better for that person and the Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s a ticket because, obviously, our jail is full enough that we don’t have the capacity to actually book people for violation of the statute,” he said. “That’s what really motivates us to just see if we can find a voluntary place for them to go where the problem just stops.”
He said the calls received by SCSO for camping in unincorporated areas are far fewer than in other parts of Spokane.
“A lot of the public land in Spokane County is heavily treed, heavily wooded, kind of off the beaten path. A lot of the times, the people who choose to be out in those areas, they go unobserved and they don’t really cause conflict in their interaction with the community,” Sheriff Nowels said.
He said the updated ordinance allows deputies to have the tools to work with people who are camping and help them make meaningful changes.
Spokane Valley has a similar ordinance, along with a Homeless Outreach Team that responds to calls about camping.
“We want to make sure we connect them with services. That’s going to allow them to break the cycle of homelessness and be able to get into stable housing and be able to move forward with their life,” Chief Ellis said.
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