SPOKANE, Wash. – The City of Spokane announced a change to the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) on Thursday, shifting from a single unit to two teams.
According to the city, HOT will now operate with separate neighborhood and downtown teams.
“Comprised of two Spokane Police officers, multiple Code Enforcement Litter Control staff, and outreach partners, this team previously moved as one unit across the city daily,” the city said.
With two separate teams composed of a police officer and at least five staff members, Mayor Lisa Brown’s office hopes to make outreach to unhoused persons more efficient.
“With these changes, our teams will move throughout downtown and our neighborhoods more frequently and as a result, improve our response to complaints,” Brown said.
The announcement of the new teams mostly focused on the problems posed by homeless people to property owners rather than the individuals who do not have access to housing themselves, but Interim Police Chief Justin Lundgren did mention that the new HOT teams will be better able to provide resources to those who request them.
“This new approach will give us the opportunity to visit problem locations more often and provide resources to those requesting them, utilizing education and enforcement when applicable,” Lundgren said.
There were 2,390 homeless people in Spokane in 2023 according to the city, a 600 person increase from 2022.
