Spokane police report: calls for service down year-to-date; vehicle-registration citations and downtown camping enforcement rise

Spokane Police Chief Hall told the Public Safety and Community Health Committee that overall calls for service are down year-to-date compared with the past two years, but the department has increased enforcement of vehicle-registration violations and downtown pedestrian-interference and unlawful-camping infractions.

Chief Hall said the department does not yet know why total calls are declining. “We don't know why,” he said, adding the department can only offer hypotheses. The chief also said SPD recorded an increase in vehicle-registration citations and that those citations can be parsed into different categories on request.

The uptick in citations and in enforcement of pedestrian interference and unlawful camping is concentrated in the downtown corridor, Chief Hall said. He told the committee the department will provide a breakdown of citation types — for example, expired registrations versus no license plate displayed — at the council’s request.

Nut graf: The data the chief presented matters because it shapes enforcement and outreach priorities downtown and informs council requests for more detailed reporting. Members pressed the department on two areas that affect operations and community trust: federal task-force partnerships on drug investigations and how the department uses existing enforcement codes.

On federal partnerships, Chief Hall said most Spokane PD officers previously assigned to federal task forces were pulled back before his arrival. “All of our task force officers were pulled back with the exception of one,” he said. He attributed the pullback to staffing losses tied to salary savings, noting the department lost staff and is only now approaching the point where it can consider reengaging with task forces. Hall said SPD still shares investigations with DEA, ATF and the FBI.

Committee members raised concerns about youth-involved crime and reporting rates. Several members urged a public campaign to increase reporting, referencing national surveys and a downtown Spokane Partnership survey that suggested many businesses do not report incidents. Chief Hall urged residents and businesses to “report, report, report,” saying improved reporting helps map where crimes occur and informs policing decisions.

The chief also walked the committee through offense categories tracked by SPD. He said crimes against persons and aggravated and simple assaults have trended downward in the recent three-year window, while calls related to mental health, drug incidents and vehicle-related offenses show different short- and longer-term trends depending on the time frame examined.

Ending: The committee asked for additional data slices (for example, separating expired tabs from missing plates and isolating downtown locations) and indicated it would review those details next month as the police department refines its presentation and follows up on requested breakdowns.