(The Center Square) – Spokane is sending deputies to Seattle for the FIFA World Cup games this June.
The international soccer tournament will take place across the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. Seattle is hosting six matches and could see law enforcement agencies from across Washington state travel there to provide security as an estimated 750,000 visitors descend on the city.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is set to receive about $726,000 of the nearly $1 billion in federal funding allocated nationwide to support public safety and transit. Washington state has received $41.5 million: $33.1 million for security, of which $2.48 million is state funding, and $8.48 million for transit.
Spokane’s share will come as federal funding passed through the Seattle Local Organizing Committee.
“So one of my favorite things to do is to come ask the board to accept free money,” Undersheriff Kevin Richey told the Spokane Board of County Commissioners Tuesday. “We were awarded $726,158 to support operations related to a base camp fan zone in Spokane, and at Lumen Field over in Seattle.”
Richey said the grant will fund overtime for SCSO’s Explosive Disposal Unit when they head to Seattle, support Spokane County’s Regional Intelligence Group 9 and the Real Time Crime Center.
The grant will pay for travel between Spokane and Seattle for the EDU and RIG 9 specialized units, as well as travel to Seattle for the county’s Air Support Unit, ensuring SCSO has a helicopter up in the air.
Richey said the money also covers travel and training for an SCSO deputy to get certified as a counter-unmanned aircraft system operator, who detects “terrorists and unauthorized drones” and disables them.
Corporal Mark Gregory told The Center Square that SCSO is no stranger to leaving home to assist law enforcement operations around the state, but he couldn’t recall any events that reached this level.
“I don’t think all that’s been set in stone,” Gregory told The Center Square regarding overall planning, “I wouldn’t want to tell you or anybody else anyway, because why would we give the playbook away?”
Seattle is hosting 12 of the 48 teams this year, including Iran, as the Trump administration carries out military operations in the Middle East. Notably, Iran will play in a match against Egypt during Seattle’s Pride Weekend, despite homosexuality being illegal in Iran and criminalized as “debauchery” in Egypt.
Gregory said he isn’t sure how many deputies SCSO will ultimately send to Seattle for the World Cup, but said there will be plenty of personnel back in Spokane to handle local operations and the fan zone.
Dan Nelson, a Seattle Police Department captain and head of World Cup security, told the Seattle Rotary Club earlier this year that Lynnwood might also send some of its officers to assist at the World Cup.
The federal funding will also help SCSO purchase three pieces of equipment, two of which the county commissioners approved on Tuesday, while they wait for a contract from the state for the last one.
The purchases approved Tuesday will provide SCSO with an “agile robot” for explosive reconnaissance and a Long Range Acoustic Device to communicate with people in large gatherings. Gregory noted that the LRAD isn’t capable of producing “loud ear-piercing” sounds, which have faced criticism in Spokane.
“This system that we’re getting is only a very loud and clear [public address] system that will be used for providing information,” Gregory said. “It does not have the capability that everybody freaked out.”
The other purchase, which the county is waiting on a state contract for before proceeding, will provide SCSO with a platform for its Bell 505 helicopter to provide aerial sniper overwatch. Gregory said all of these purchases will be retained after the World Cup, providing additional benefits to local taxpayers.
He argued the long-term costs of maintaining this equipment are minimal and worth the investment.
“A lot of the equipment is kind of on a short turnaround,” Richey said, urging the board to proceed.
