Spokane mayor budgets almost $5M more for police services

(The Center Square) – Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward was joined by Police Chief Craig Meidl at this week’s tele-townhall to discuss public safety aspects of her proposed $1.2 billion budget for 2023.

In her budget submitted to the city council is an increase of about 7.2% in the general fund allocation for police services. Woodward wants to boost the department’s budget to $73,540,720, nearly $5 million more than 2022.

Police services make up 32% of the general fund, which is proposed at $229.4 million, about $12.7 million more than 2022.

Woodward said the largest increases in her budget comes from salaries and wage adjustments resulting from the settlement of numerous labor agreements during 2022. Most other increases are due to inflationary impacts on operating costs, such as fuel and equipment.

There is not enough money in the budget to hire the 70 to 100 additional officers that Woodward believes are necessary to keep up with local demand for services. So, she and Meidl have worked out a plan to beef up patrols during a time of heightened crime.

“I’m a law and order mayor,” said Woodward of the need to change things up.

According to the latest data from the Spokane Police Department, the city has seen 13 homicides this year, which is an 8% increase from 2022. Property crime is up nearly 24% across town.

The chief said criminal activity in and around Camp Hope, a large homeless enclave on state land Interstate 90, is up 72% since last year.

Meidl said the new staffing model to increase patrols will take 40 officers out of specialty roles, such as traffic enforcement. These individuals will be added to the ranks of 115 patrol officers in January.

“We’re also going to be going to a little bit of a different sector, breaking up how we divvy up our patrol sectors so the officers will have a smaller area to patrol,” said Meidl. “Our hope is that we will reduce the commute time between calls as well.”

Meidl and Woodward’s administration are also working on recruitment and retention incentives to help fill open positions in the police department.

“We are losing officers right now faster than we can hire them,” said the chief.

Woodward said, with Spokane County the fastest growing of all 39 counties in Washington state, it is vital to protect a larger population.

Toward that end, Woodward asked the city council earlier this year to focus on boosting police ranks and replacing aging vehicles and equipment to maximize efficiencies at the department. At that time, she said the number of police officers in the city per capita is far below the national average, creating a high burnout rate within the department.

Adding 60 more officers would put Spokane on par with other same-sized cities. As it is, Woodward said there are 1.35 officers per 1,000 population instead of the 2.4 national average distributed by the Washington Association of Sheriffs & Police Chiefs.

“Our officers are overworked, and it is getting more difficult to get them to volunteer for overtime to cover large community events,” she told The Center Square.

SPD is budgeted for 356 commissioned officers, but only 306 are available to work at any given time. The remainder are either in training, injured or on other types of leave, according to police reports.

Meidl told the Public Safety & Community Health Committee, comprised of city councilors, last summer that overtime was becoming increasingly mandatory because officers were no longer volunteering for extra hours as they once had.

“Our officers are fatigued,” he said.

In March, the council granted Meidl’s “hire ahead” plan for 10 commissioned officer positions. The program was supposed to be cost neutral, covered by savings from retirement and separations.

Under the program, SPD can start the hiring process for an anticipated departure, such as an officer retiring, ahead of the position being vacated.

It can take six months to a year for a candidate to get fully trained, so starting the hiring cycle as soon as possible will keep the ranks filled , said Meidl.

On another public safety front, Woodward established a Violent Crime Task Force several months ago to deal with the uptick in shootings and assaults.

Woodward and Meidl urge citizens who agree with the need for greater public safety services to become engaged in the process to decide next year’s budget.

They said having people speak out at the upcoming legislative session about the need to restore police powers that were stripped away in a 2021 reform movement is also essential to address continuing crime problems.