(The Center Square) – Although Camp Hope in Spokane has closed and Proposition 1 banning homeless camps near certain places was overwhelmingly approved by voters in November, some downtown business owners say they’re still grappling with chronic camping and petty crime associated with it impacting their operations.
In 2022, the city of Spokane resumed enforcement of its “sit and lie” ordinance that prohibits sitting or lying on a public sidewalk between 6 a.m. and midnight in parts of the downtown.
Two years later, Mark Grace says problems with homeless still persist.
“It seems like it’s getting worse to me,” he said. “I’m born and raised here, but never until now did I see someone sticking a needle into their arm in broad daylight next to a streetlight.”
Grace runs Grace Pressure Washington, which draws many of its customers from downtown businesses looking to clean up the outside of the establishment due to the homeless leaving trash, stolen goods, and even human waste. Last year, he said one local food bank had him come every week to clean up the mess, which often included used drug needles.
“They had to bleach their building and cleanup behind their dumpster because the homeless are coming into the parking lot after hours,” he said. “And they’re trying to run a food bank.”
But it’s not just an issue of public health, but also safety. Grace said that on one occasion while he was cleaning there, a Spokane police officer came by and warned him there was likely going to be violence in that area later that night.
“He was saying ‘keep your head on a swivel and you try to get out of here before dark,’” Grace recalled.
Even if there is no actual violence or danger, it can still create an atmosphere in which patrons and customers feel unsafe.
That has been the case for Greg Lipsker, who runs Barrister Winery. Lipsker told The Center Square he and others have frequently had to escort women attending from the front doors to their cars to ensure they feel safe.
“The perception of the homeless is frightening people,” he said. “We have to be very careful to make sure that it looks safe, not just in our alley but in the streets around here.” He said occasionally “we come in the morning and there’s trash all over the back or looks like someone’s stolen property has been ransacked and rummaged through and the remains left on our loading dock.”
Chud Wendle is the executive director of Hutton Settlement, which manages a variety of properties throughout the city. Like Grace and Lipsker, Wendle says homeless camping on or around their properties has been going on for several years, but has worsened recently.
“The last month we’ve been really hammered with illegal camping, vandalism, public defecation,” he said.
Since local law enforcement has been allowed to enforce the “sit and lie” ordinance, the three say that officers are responsive. However, they cited a variety of factors undermining police efforts.
When other more serious felony crimes are also occurring, Wendle said, “I think it’s low rung on the totem pole.”
He added that “there’s all that book and release, and it’s a revolving door as far as the crime is concerned.”
Lipsker believes one of the issues is that the department isn’t sufficiently staffed.
“They do the best they can,” he said.
At the same time, he shares Wendle’s view of a “revolving door” for chronic homeless arrestees.
“I keep reading someone’s been booked into jail for x, y, z offense, and they’re out right away and back on the street committing crime,” he lamented.
The business owners’ attitudes are also shared by Spokane Police Guild’s Dave Dunkin, who told The Center Square that “it does feel kind of futile, where people are just being booked and release. Doesn’t feel like there are consequences. We see the same people again and again and again. We all know that the business owners and the people working downtown feel that way.”
What remains unanswered so far is how to address the problem effectively.
“I don’t know how seriously it can be taken,” Wendle said. “This is their [the homeless peoples’] choice. They have options … and they’re taking the path of least resistance, (to) live a lawless life on the street.”
Grace feels arrests are the best way to deter criminal activity committed by homeless who don’t want their possessions lost or illegal contraband confiscated by police.
“When the word is on the street that you’re actually going to go to jail, it does deter some of that activity they’re trying to stop,” he said. “Even if they know they’re going to get right out, they’re still going to get arrested.”
Wendle holds a similar attitude, saying that while Proposition 1 was a “step in the right direction, there’s no magic wand to this issue. I think at some point there has to be enforcement.”
Lipsker said that while he has compassion for the homeless, they’re interfering with people’s ability to earn a living.
“It’s a sad situation,” he noted, “but it’s impacting the downtown businesses.”
Dunkin says the problem on the police department’s end starts with a lack of consistent public policy regarding the homeless.
“It is kind of this back and forth on ‘are we enforcing sit and lie, are we not enforcing sit and lie?’ It does become frustrating to be kind of caught in the middle of that political hot potato,” he said. “Business owners want us to do something, but the homeless activists don’t want us to do things. If we don’t do something, people are mad. If we do do something, people are mad.”
The Center Square reached out to the Spokane Police Department, the Spokane City Prosecutor’s Office, and Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown’s Office for comment but did not a receive a reply by time of publication.
