SPOKANE — The week ahead is expected to be exceptionally cold, with Thursday’s temperatures forecast to drop below zero, and as hundreds of unhoused people in Spokane remain sleeping outside.
During a Monday press conference alongside Spokane County Commissioner Mary Kuney, Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl and Spokane County Sheriff-elect John Nowels, Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward told reporters that ongoing legal battles in federal court had limited the options available to quickly move people out of Camp Hope, the city’s large and controversial homeless encampment.
A recent restraining order issued by a federal judge temporarily barred a sweep of the camp or widespread arrests without individual probable cause. The next hearing in that case is scheduled for Dec. 28.
Though Woodward said this order had stymied efforts to quickly close the camp, she reiterated that she wanted to get people out of the cold and assured residents and businesses around Camp Hope that they had not been abandoned.
“Families, business owners, employees, students and school staff have endured a great impact and we have to remain solution focused,” Woodward said.
She emphasized that local hospitals are full, and with dangerously low temperatures forecast for the week ahead, Woodward said that it is imperative for the homeless to utilize local shelter services. She also called on service providers currently working with Camp Hope residents to extend their assistance to the Trent Resource and Assistance Center, the largest component of the region’s homeless shelter system.
However, there are not enough shelter beds available now or in the near future to house all of the homeless at Camp Hope, either at the Trent shelter or elsewhere. As of Monday night, there were 91 shelter beds available throughout the Spokane system, according to sheltermespokane.org, far less than what would be required to house those staying at Camp Hope, let alone all homeless Spokane residents.
The Trent shelter is currently permitted to hold 350 people, not including up to 25 staff members, according to reporting by Range media. Woodward insisted Monday that the capacity of the Trent shelter could be “flexed” up to 450 beds and that the city doesn’t want to turn anyone away, but added that the Salvation Army, which manages the shelter, does not currently have the staffing to safely do so.
“That’s what we’re working on,” Woodward said.
But Woodward, Kuney, Meidl and Nowels largely avoided addressingn the lack of shelter space Monday, short of calling for the state to provide more funds. Instead, they blamed ongoing court battles for “limiting our ability … to move people into a warm place.”
The restraining order, issued Dec. 12 by U.S. District Court Judge Stanley A. Bastian, restricts local law enforcement from forcibly evicting residents, arresting them without individual probably cause or using infrared technology to surveil the camp.
The order came days after at least a dozen law enforcement officers from the Spokane Sheriff’s Office, Spokane Valley Police Department and Spokane Police Department arrived at the camp unannounced on Dec. 6 and handed out leaflets stating “this camp is to be closed.”
The leaflets, which officers and deputies handed out again on Dec. 7, also provided some information for homeless services, though camp organizers said the information was already widely available and the leaflets contained inaccurate information.
Though law enforcement have stated that the outreach was intended to connect residents with services, camp organizers and residents called the exercise little more than an attempt to intimidate. They pointed to the number of law enforcement personnel, as well as the warning of impending closure.
Nowels disputed that characterization, saying that law enforcement conducted themselves professionally and only arrived in large numbers for their own safety.
Though Nowels said Monday that he was unsure if the outreach had any effect “other than upsetting some people,” which he blamed on calls for camp residents not to interact with police, he said the outreach would have continued if not for the judge’s order. Though the restraining order makes no mention of barring further outreach, Nowels said he did not expect the sheriff’s office to do so again during the current legal battles.
But Nowels insisted that traditional law enforcement action will continue at and around Camp Hope.
“We need the citizens and businesses who live and work in that area to know that we hear them and that we’re going to do everything in our power to help address the crime that is unfortunately occurring surrounding that camp,” he said.
According to Meidl, crime has surged in the quarter-mile around the camp since it opened last December, up 79% compared so far this year when compared with 2021, or 62% when compared to a three-year average.
In response to the increase in crime several months ago, the police department stationed two officers outside the camp to be a visible deterrent and to respond to calls.
Meidl said this presence has cost city taxpayers $400,000 in overtime, despite concerns raised by city leaders that overtime costs have been out of control. When asked whether those officers had lowered local crime rates, Meidl did not have clear answers.
“What I’m hearing is that, instead of having a lot of the individuals who like to like to bring drugs and other things into that camp, it’s pushed them a little bit further out into the neighborhoods,” Meidl said. “So we’re still having an issue with crime.”
Julie Garcia, founder of the organization Jewels Helping Hands which manages Camp Hope, said that she doesn’t believe the increase in crime in the area has been caused by residents of Camp Hope.
She claimed that the residents of Camp Hope are closely monitored to prevent criminal activity. Instead, she said that there are a number of other homeless encampments in the area, and blamed a rise in crime on those camps.
Local law enforcement officials have accused Camp Hope organizers of refusing to cooperate with police, including by interfering during the “outreach” activities earlier this month by warning campers to stay in their tents and not interact with officers or deputies.
Garcia has conversely accused local law enforcement of declining to arrest troublemakers in the camp and dragging their feet when called on for help.
During Monday’s press conference, Nowels stated that local law enforcement has recently made several arrests of people in possession of firearms, stolen vehicles and large quantities of fentanyl.
Garcia stated she believed she knew of a single individual who had been arrested that fit Nowel’s description, but argued that camp organizers had been trying unsuccessfully to get law enforcement to trespass him for nine months.
“We have continually asked for assistance,” Garcia said. “We try to do everything we can to get law enforcement involved when we know of any crime happening inside the camp.”
