SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Police Department (SPD) announced a restructure to its current staffing model on Thursday.
Beginning Jan. 8, SPD will put more officers on patrol in Spokane neighborhoods. Both Mayor Nadine Woodward and SPD Chief Craig Meidl said their number one priority is public safety.
"I was approached by several lieutenants and captains who told me that our officers were not satisfied with the level of service that they're providing to the community," Meidl said.
The restructuring has been in talks for more than a year, according to Meidl. SPD said it will increase the number of patrol officers on the streets, which will reduce response times to calls and allow "more proactive time" for officers.
"Instead of being reactive, our goal is to try to give them more opportunity to be proactive within the community as well," Meidl said.
In addition to putting more officers on the streets, Meidl said the restructuring will reduce burnout amongst SPD staff. In 2022, SPD received an average of 273 calls each day, a 6% increase from 2021.
"It also will increase officer morale by reducing fatigue of the officers, by reducing the burnout and ideally reducing overtime by reducing the amount of mandatory overtime that we have to implement to ensure that we're meeting our minimum staffing levels," Meidl said.
Along with increased patrol, another important goal of the restructure is being able to respond to calls quicker.
"I would say our goal, the simple answer is as quickly as we can, and have officers available so that when that call comes in, the longest delay is just the officer driving from point A to point B, that would be the ultimate goal," Meidl said.
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