SPOKANE, Wash — After years of officers working under an expired contract, the Spokane Police Guild and the City of Spokane have reached a tentative agreement on a replacement.
The tentative agreement was announced by in a press conference by Mayor Nadine Woodward, who was joined by city councilmembers, representatives of the Spokane Police Guild and Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs. The agreement addresses issues of transparency and accountability, mostly through the independent Office of the Police Ombudsman, as well as taking care of years of back pay to officers who went without raises for years.
"Total cost of the contract is estimated to be $9.5 million and will be paid for out of both the 2021 operating budget that was approved by the city council in December, and also general fund unappropriated reserves," Woodward said.
But tax payers won't be feeling the years of back pay in their wallets.
"So, there is enough money to pay now and no anticipation of anymore taxes. The community has already sort of prefunded this," Spokane City Councilmember Candace Mumm said.
Issues of accountability, which were the main reason the deal took so long to finalize, were also addressed in the new agreement.
"The ombudsman, in both the previous agreement and the TA, didn't have a clear path to providing an uncensored version of what they believed happened in the situation, and they can now speak freely," Beggs said.
That does come with a caveat however; the findings of the ombudsman will come with a clarification that it is solely the opinion of the ombudsman and not on behalf of the City of Spokane or to be taken as a judgement on the situation.
Other provisions for the ombudsman include the ability to open an investigation even if the department doesn't carry out its own, or if the department ends its investigation early, Beggs said. It also expands the ombudsman's ability to access body camera footage.
City Councilmember Michael Cathcart said the increased accountability and transparency should also be good for officers because it will now give the chance for false complaints to shown to be incorrect.
Spokane Police Guild President Kris Honaker said guild members were happy to finally have an agreement reached, even if they missed out on raises in the last few years.
The full guild membership and the city council need to vote on the deal before it can be finalized in the coming weeks.