SPOKANE, Wash. — The incoming Spokane Police Department Chief, Kevin Hall, was sworn in by Mayor Lisa Brown on Monday.
A crowd gathered to watch the ceremony at the Tribal Gathering Place just outside of Spokane City Hall.
For Mayor Brown and others, it marked a day of hope.
"Today is an opportunity to look forward and as we do so, I am filed with optimism and excitement," Brown said.
Brown announced Hall's selection as chief in July, after five months of searching and from a pool of four finalist candidates. She and other city leaders have praised his commitment to collaboration and transparency.
"To the people of Spokane, I assure you your voices matter. All your voices and your partnership is vital to the success of Spokane," Hall told the crowd.
Hall comes to Spokane as the former assistant chief at the Tucson Police Department.
City council president Betsy Wilkerson said she was excited to hear Chief Hall acknowledge learning from his mistakes and bringing change to Spokane.
"He's willing to listen not just to one group but all the groups because these are systems that really have to work together to get the change Spokane wants to see," she said.
Debbie Novak, an advocate for police accountability, said she also hopes to see collaboration between the community and police department.
Holding up both hands, she showed off green bracelets on her wrists.
"This one's for my son, David Novak. 'Justice for David Novak,'" she said. "This one is for Robert Bradley."
Both men were shot and killed by Spokane Police. Since David's death in 2019, Novak has been working at the state and local level to push for police accountability. She says the city still ranks number two per capita for people killed by officers, according to Mapping Police Violence.
She wants Hall to hear and listen to families impacted by these shootings.
"I'm hoping Chief Hall will let us help him to help us," she said.
Hall said he is willing to listen when it comes to Spokane's biggest issues: the fentanyl epidemic, homelessness, and crime. He wants to work with business and government leaders and service providers on solutions.
One initiative he said he'd like to bring from Tucson is a continuum of care for mental and behavioral health; he says Tucson has had a behavioral crisis response center since 2014.
“It is probably the cornerstone of a good crisis continuum of care," he said. "I would love to see a crisis center or crisis stabilization center here in Spokane.”
Hall said he doesn't have any timelines built out for making change as he enters the chief role; he says any changes will be thoughtful and made with the city's aspirations in mind. He said Spokane and Tucson are not dissimilar and Spokane isn't unique in its challenges. He says he's already heard from community members about possible solutions, but he says it will take time.
"Let's be fair: nobody has cracked this nut when it comes to the unsheltered and the fentanyl epidemic," Hall said. "So we're going to need a little bit of latitude and time to figure this out."