SPOKANE, Wash. — Last spring, the city of Spokane and Catholic Charities wanted to do something about the large number of crime and emergency calls at the House of Charity.
So, the city considered partnering with the organization and base two police officers there.
Almost a year later, the agreement was never approved. But officers did patrol the House of Charity for two weeks to give the idea a try.
According to the City of Spokane crime map, the month before the idea was introduced, about 18 police cases were listed within 500 feet of the shelter.
The month following the proposal's introduction, which is during the time police patrolled the area, the crime map shows the rate actually stayed about the same.
Catholic Charities Housing Director Jonathan Mallahan said police presence those two weeks made the area feel safer.
"Having an SPD presence there really did have great impact on preventing escalation of conflicts and really creating an environment where people felt safer to be," Mallahan said.
He said it no longer needed Spokane police patrolling the shelter after it discontinued 24/7 services. With fewer people and less of a demand for security, it no longer made sense to invest in the agreement.
"So, the security needs have drastically changed on that block," Mallahan. "We're able to better manage the people that are there now with the security team we have internally."
Catholic Charities is still looking at new ways to partner with Spokane Police to address crime there.
"We're considering a partnership with SPD through some special commissions granted by the police department to our team members to give them some additional authority to act when they see conditions that aren't safe," Mallahan said.