SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane's new mayor gathered city leaders in downtown Spokane on Wednesday for a press conference about public safety.
Mayor Lisa Brown addressed issues like substance abuse, the housing crisis and the search for new fire and police chiefs. She also shared the city is launching a community safety workshop, but did not elaborate on a recent string of deadly police shootings. Some police accountability advocates think approaches like this fall short.
Just two days after Spokane County's fourth deadly police shooting, Brown said she's hopeful things will get better.
"I firmly believe they can be and that starts with steps we're taking today and addressing people in need and in crisis earlier," she said.
The city is now launching a community safety workgroup. City leaders and public safety experts will meet monthly to tackle issues like increased domestic violence, substance abuse and mental health.
"We have our alternative response units that include health and mental health providers with law enforcement and fire," Brown said. "But those are not coordinated right now and they generally operate Monday through Friday during regular hours."
These efforts fall short for some police accountability advocates in Wednesday's audience.
"What I heard today was putting the responsibility on the community and not on the agencies that are responding," said Jim Leighty with the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability.
Leighty and Debbie Novak are both members of the coalition. Both lost loved ones to law enforcement shootings. They hoped to hear more from Spokane Police, which was involved in three of Spokane County's four deadly police shootings this year.
"It appears, and in ones I've studied in the past, not only was there not de-escalation, there was escalation," Novak said.
Police say some of the shootings involved suicidal people, including the most recent one downtown. It's still unknown if a behavioral health unit was there, as the police department could not speak about the situation during its investigation.
"That's very concerning, sends up some red flags and makes us wonder also, do we need to increase officer training for crisis intervention?" Leighty said.
As of Wednesday, 17 Spokane police officers are on administrative leave for the three shootings. That accounts for less than 5% of the city's total force, but interim Chief Justin Lundgren acknowledges there's been some strain.
"Once we reach a certain threshold, we're going to call in extra officers on overtime to backfill," he said. "So we've had to call in some officers, but we've not had problems making staffing."
The city is beginning a nationwide search for new fire and police chiefs. Specialized recruiting firms are being called in to help.
"We are also working to make sure there's meaningful expert and community input into this process," said Maggie Yates, Spokane's Deputy City Administrator.
Internal department and public surveys and meetings will allow the public to give feedback on what they'd like to see in the next fire and police leaders.
A spokesperson with Spokane Police Department (SPD) told KREM 2 they anticipate some of the nine officers on leave for a Jan. 31 shooting could return from administrative leave next week.
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