(The Center Square) – “June 1st in a three hour period, Spokane police officers make 17 arrests during an emphasis patrol for public drug use in the downtown corridor,” began a recently released video from the Spokane Police Department highlighting the enforcement.
The emphasis patrol was a coordinated effort across various units of the Spokane Police Department utilizing both patrol and plainclothes officers.
Enforcement began on May 11, beginning days after the passage of the emergency ordinance on Monday, May 8, and enforcement began on May 11.
Over two months, SPD has made 105 arrests or citations, with seven individuals having more than one unique incident.
This information was relayed to The Center Square via email by Public Safety Communications Manager for SPD Julie Humphries, who confirmed the numbers as of Tuesday morning.
The video went on.
“The names change, the locations vary, but the reaction from many confronted for their drug use is the same,” it continued.
That reaction is, in a word, denial.
“We saw it. This is not where you’re gonna argue it, okay? You’re gonna have your time in court. You’re going to argue it to a judge,” said Officer Daniel Morley, as his body camera footage showed him attempting to diffuse an argument during an arrest.
“I don’t need my time in court. We weren’t doing it,” the unidentified woman replied.
In situations like this, arrests can end in a jail booking, but more often than not, they end in citations which require the individual to appear in community court.
The woman in question was shown on body cam footage being cited and released just 30 minutes before the incident described above and is one of those seven individuals with more than one unique incident logged with SPD.
The second time, her arrest ended in a jail booking.
Post arrest, Officer Morley can be seen speaking with the woman, offering help.
She responds curtly with phrases like “What does it matter?” and “Stop pretending to care.”
Officer Morley maintains a professional demeanor, continuing to offer help and trying to relate struggles of addiction within his own extended family.
He went on to acknowledge that some individuals are malicious but went on to say, “a lot of other times, people aren’t necessarily who you see in that moment. They are all the other things that led them up to that spot.”
The Spokane Police Department hopes these arrests will “promote accountability while providing the first step toward recovery.”
