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Spokane City Council accepts $1 million DOJ COPS grant over public objections
Summary
After hours of testimony and questioning, Spokane City Council voted 5–2 to accept a $1,000,000 Department of Justice COPS Hiring Program grant to support eight police officer FTEs, drawing sustained public concern about immigration data sharing, long-term local matching costs and transparency.
Spokane City Council voted 5–2 to accept a $1,000,000 U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) COPS Hiring Program grant intended to fund eight officer full-time equivalents focused on open-air gun-violence reduction.
Chief Paul Hall told the council the grant funds a three-year, gun-violence reduction plan that would allocate five officers to place-based strategies, two to person-centered interventions and one to network disruption and social support. "This is for public space — open-air gun violence," Hall said, adding the award provides $1,000,000 over three years with a 25% local match and a $125,000 per-officer cap in the grant worksheet.
The vote followed more than two hours of public testimony in which dozens of residents and advocates urged the council to reject the award. Commenters faulted the timing and transparency of agenda materials, warned the grant’s language…
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