SPOKANE, Wash. – The law that made it illegal for anyone to camp in most of The City of Spokane, Proposition 1, is officially being enforced.
Proposition 1 was approved last November and it prohibits camping within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and daycare centers.
The law has been ensnared in legal challenges since it was first passed.
On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Martin v. Boise, which opened the door for cities like Spokane to enforce wide-range laws to cite, ticket and arrest people for camping and sleeping outside.
SPD began enforcing illegal camping on public property in 2018 when the City Council passed the initial unlawful camping ordinance.
Now, illegal camping under Proposition 1 is considered a misdemeanor, according to SPD.
SPD has trained officers to enforce this new law.
The first citation was issued last week, according to a Public Information Officer from SPD.
Thursday, the City Council hosted a study session where they discussed illegal camping.
City leaders, Spokane Police Department (SPD) officials, Spokane Fire, Council members, homeless advocates and more were gathered inside City Hall for the meeting.
The goal was to get all the departments on the same page and work on strategies to help Spokane’s homeless population.
“It [Proposition 1] puts more pressure on them [unhoused people]. And it makes them more desperate for housing. Proposition 1…basically makes them reach rock-bottom potentially sooner, because it puts more pressure on them having no place to camp,” Devin Neven, the CEO and Medical Director of Consistent Care Services, said.
Consistent Care Services was awarded an emergency contract to help deal with Spokane’s fentanyl crisis. They help people get into housing and treatment.
Neven was in attendance at Thursday’s meeting.
Some have voiced frustrations with the City Council and Mayor Lisa Brown’s administration about Proposition 1 not being enforced until recently.
“When Prop 1 was passed, we were hearing from our police department then that ‘Council, we do not have the capacity. We will do what we can.’ And they [SPD] have been doing what they can based on their limited resources going forward…We got clarity from Martin v. Boise. We got clarity on that. Our department started looking at the changes that we needed to make. But absolutely, the laws are the laws,” City Council President, Betsy Wilkerson, said.
SPD told NonStop Local that they will respond to illegal camping as able and as warranted.
“As with all laws and ordinances, an officer’s decision to enforce, educate, offer resources, or a combination therof is dependent on the circumstances of each individual situation. SPD’s capacity to enforce certain laws such as illegal camping depends on the constraints posed by other priority calls for service and officer availability,” Acting SPD Chief, Mike McNab, said in a statement.
