Spokane police: response times steady while unlawful camping citations and evictions rise

Spokane Police Department leaders on Jan. 6 told the City Council Public Safety Committee that overall response times for the city remained largely steady year over year, but several quality‑of‑life measures — including unlawful camping citations and eviction calls — have increased.

The department presented year‑to‑date calls for service and response‑time data showing priority‑one response times “basically the same” as 2024, with modest improvements on priority‑two and priority‑three calls. Chief Hall said 911 call volume (green) was down while non‑emergency crime check calls were up, and that the department is still “digging into” elevated numbers for deaths and drug‑related fatalities.

The committee heard that unlawful camping citations rose about 147% over the prior year, while sit‑and‑lie citations remained down and pedestrian interference calls increased. Chief Hall also reported that traffic enforcement by automated cameras (speed and red‑light cameras) issued far more civil citations than officers on patrol; officers can issue both criminal and civil citations.

“The 911 calls are down, while the crime check calls are up,” Chief Hall said. “Basically, the same on priority ones. Basically, the same, a little bit quicker on priority twos.”

Council members asked about eviction calls and what officers do when dispatched to an eviction. “It’s primarily, preserve the peace,” Chief Hall replied. “So we’re there to simply make sure that there’s no violence … and that the order is served, without any issues.”

A representative identified as Mike, speaking for the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, told the committee that evictions are primarily the sheriff’s responsibility and that city officers are sometimes asked to assist and “stand by” for safety. That distinction was noted repeatedly during questioning by council members seeking clarity on jurisdiction.

The department showed comparisons with similarly sized Western U.S. cities using FBI violent‑crime stats from 2020–2023. Spokane fell near the middle of the selected peer group and aligned closely with Tacoma and Reno for violent crime. The department also presented precinct‑level charts showing aggravated and simple assaults down year over year and a small uptick in domestic violence offenses compared with the two prior years.

Shootings with victim injury were slightly up compared with last year but remained below 2022 levels; shootings without injury were “very close” to prior years. Chief Hall said the department is developing a violent‑gun crime reduction plan.

Use‑of‑force incidents have trended lower since legislative and training changes implemented between 2019 and 2022; the department reported an average of 3.8 deadly‑force incidents per year across the span shown. Arrests overall are up compared with previous years, with trespassing the leading arrest type in the presented data.

Staffing remains a concern. The department reported six recruits in the basic law enforcement academy, additional personnel in field training, and 26 vacancies on the commission side. Dispatch and records units have high vacancy levels, which leadership said creates significant workload stress for remaining staff.

Committee members asked the department to provide additional data about officer contacts versus citations (for example, what share of officer contacts result in tickets) and to differentiate outcomes for camera‑issued citations versus officer‑issued citations.

Ending: The police update concluded with committee members requesting more granular contact data and with department leadership saying it will continue to refine their reporting for future meetings.