SPOKANE, Wash. – Nearly four months since 74.66% of Spokane voters approved a ban on encampments within 1,000 feet of a school, childcare facility, park or playground, Spokane Police Chief Justin Lundgren said they haven’t been fully enforcing the law yet.
“I’m not saying that under no circumstance would we enforce the provisions of that law,” Interim Chief Lundgren said to City Council on Monday. “But where I’m challenged is if we enforce it everywhere we can, (and) all the other laws everywhere we can, I don’t want to put my officers in a position where they could be held liable for their activities.”
The questions about the legality of the measure come from Boise v. Martin, a 2018 federal court case, which prevents city-wide anti-camping ordinances unless there’s enough shelter beds for the city’s entire homeless population.
It’s unclear if or how much the legal precedent would affect Spokane’s anti-camping initiative. However, the lack of answers puts the questions onto SPD’s plate.
“We don’t suspect that this law isn’t valid on its face or that the voter couldn’t have approved the law,” Interim Chief Lundgren said. “But on the enforcement side, we still have some questions we’re hoping to get clarity on.”
Spokane City Councilmember Michael Cathcart says he understands where Lundgren and the police department are coming from, but thinks the department should enforce the will of the people until the courts tell them otherwise.
“We have not had a court tell us that it’s not enforceable,” Cathcart said. “Until that point and time happens, and it could, I’m not saying that it won’t, but until that point and time happens we need to be enforcing that law because that’s what the people expected, that’s what they voted for, and for people to have trust in government, they’re going to need to know that we’re going to follow through.”
Councilmember Paul Dillon says Monday’s meeting wasn’t the first time he heard about the lack of enforcement on the anti-camping measure.
“I’ve heard those concerns from the beginning… Our previous Chief Meidl made similar comments back in December before he left the force where he talked about, ‘yeah, there’s a lot of enforcement questions,’” Dillon said. “I’m empathetic to voters who wanted to see a response on homelessness and camping but I do think at the same time there’s a lot of lingering legal concerns about implementation.”
