(The Center Square) – Spokane Valley plans to add 10 police officers to its ranks this year, three of whom are already in training; the city council decided on Tuesday where the other seven will go once hired.
The Valley contracts its law enforcement services through an agreement with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office. The deal currently provides the city with 91 dedicated officers out of the Valley precinct, with another 40 shared between the two municipalities.
However, due to a significant increase in calls for service and other factors, the Valley hired a consulting group in 2022 and 2023 to review its staffing levels. The process ended with the group recommending an increase of 28 officers and two civilian positions.
The council approved this initial hiring phase last February but repeatedly debated the matter leading up to its 2025 budget adoption. Councilmember Al Merkel wants to hire all 28 officers at once, but his peers disagree, adding that funding and recruiting the first 10 is a challenge, let alone the rest.
“The original cost estimates that were discussed in February and throughout the year were based upon a combination of new and lateral deputy hires,” Deputy City Manager Erik Lamb told the council on Tuesday.
Spokane Valley Police Chief Dave Ellis also recommended modifying one patrol sergeant position to a patrol lieutenant, shifting dynamics and the cost. The Valley’s 2025 budget only set aside $2.32 million for the initial ten officers, $140,000 less than it needs with the modification.
Lamb said the delta isn’t a problem since recurring revenues exceed recurring expenditures by $411,000. The cushion provides enough for the $2.45 million needed annually to fund the ten officers and one modified position, in addition to two others approved in November.
“We’ve filled three of those positions with officers in training,” Lamb said, “so it’s imperative and critical that we get the contract updated to account for where these deputies are going to go.”
While the council authorized the hiring in February 2024, Tuesday’s unanimous approval will assign the ten dedicated positions to: four patrol deputies, a patrol lieutenant, a traffic deputy, a homeless services deputy, two Spokane Valley Investigative Unit detectives and one SVIU sergeant.
The additional force will require renovating the Spokane Valley Police Precinct, which the Valley already had in mind. Lamb said the city has about $1.5 million available for a “space needs assessment” to help get the ball rolling, which he suggested the council move forward with.
Deputy Mayor Tim Hattenburg applauded others on the council, Ellis, Lamb and city staff for keeping the phase within the means of the budget without raising taxes or fees for the hires.
“This is certainly no knock on the county or city of Spokane,” Hattenburg said, “but they’re facing serious issues with staffing and maybe might have to have cuts and/or tax increases.”
The council did not state when the Valley would proceed with the next hiring phase.
