SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl and Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich sat down Thursday for their second meeting on clearing out the homeless camp near I-90 and Freya.
"What is necessary and what do we need when we move in to close down the camp out there," Meidl said.
Cheif Meidl also sat down with KREM 2 for the first time since he sent the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) a letter, warning their property could be declared a nuisance if things don't change.
The letter laid out a list of criminal activity that officers, businesses and neighbors have dealt with.
"You have the gas station there, in an email I received from the owner is he's had over 10 people quit," Meidl said. "They refuse to work there. You have a lot of theft from that gas station. The Tapio center that's been burglarized and had significant damage. You have the Fred Meyers as well that had to hire private security and we're hearing rumblings that they may not be able to stay open much longer because of the losses."
Meidl says it's a balancing act to give service providers enough time to connect people with help while also instilling a sense of urgency.
"This isn't something that we as a city or as a police department would tolerate anywhere else in the city," Meidl said. "The longer we push this out, I think, at some level, the longer folks are going to stay there as well."
Meidl and Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich have set similar deadlines for people to leave, which is sometime between Halloween and the second week of November. Both say they want the situation to be resolved without having to get law enforcement involved.
"There are going to be a number of them that are going to absolutely refuse," Meidl said.
Meidl added that those who refuse could face arrest.
"I think we're going to have to," Meidl said. "We have to keep this moving. This can't go on for months and months. It's not fair to the neighbors and it's not fair to the businesses."
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