(The Center Square) – Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown proposed a new initiative on Tuesday aimed at expanding the city’s capacity to prosecute criminal offenders and organizations dealing and trafficking narcotics.
The announcement follows a July report from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs that noted annual shifts in crime from 2022 to 2023. The report noted crime was down by an average of 3.4% across Spokane County; however, drug-related violations skyrocketed.
Brown’s proposal involves creating a new city-level position that will work alongside the Eastern District of Washington U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is headquartered in Spokane.
“Our community has been deeply affected by the opioid epidemic. To address this crisis, I am looking to create a new special attorney role to target the root of the problem – drug dealing and trafficking,” Brown wrote in a news release. “By focusing upstream, we aim to cut off the supply before it reaches our most vulnerable, preventing more people from falling victim.”
According to the WASPC report, the county experienced a 288% in reported “Drug Equipment Violations” from 2022 to 2023. Out of the 105 reported offenses, only a single arrest was made. At the same time, “Drug/Narcotic Violations” rose by 283%, with 463 arrests made from the 534 reported offenses.
If approved by the city council, the U.S. Attorney’s Office would help recruit and identify a candidate before then providing a workspace, training and day-to-day supervision. Brown hopes the new role will help build relationships with other agencies, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
According to the city’s news release, the partnership will also ensure that Spokane has “enhanced penalty provisions for high-level drug dealers and traffickers.”
“The City of Spokane and the U.S. Attorney’s Office share the same goal – a safer, stronger community for all who call Spokane home,” wrote U.S. Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref in the release.
Waldref, who acts as the chief federal law enforcement officer for the Eastern District of Washington, noted a dramatic increase in fentanyl use that’s destroying lives. Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels recently shared a similar sentiment during an interview with The Center Square.
“We’ve had such an increase in the amount of controlled substances that are being trafficked through Spokane, out into Montana, in ways that, 20 years ago, were unfathomable,” Nowels said.
The city’s issue with narcotics is coupled with understaffing at the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and the Spokane Police Department, which already limit the agencies’ capacity to enforce the law.
Understaffing is mirrored at the state level as Washington ranks last behind the 49 other states and the District of Columbia in terms of the number of officers per capita. While the national average is about 2.31 officers per 1,000 residents, Washington’s is only at 1.35, falling 58% behind, according to WASPC.
“We stand prepared to work with our federal and local law enforcement partners to address the damage being done to our communities,” Waldref wrote in the release. “Working together, we are better equipped to address the fentanyl crisis – bringing justice to purveyors of poison in our neighborhoods and sparing community members and families from the tragedy of deadly drug poisonings.”
