(The Center Square) – The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office wants to start enforcing illegal camping laws to mitigate the impact of homelessness in unincorporated communities.
Undersheriff Kevin Richey met with the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday and proposed amending the county’s public camping ordinance. If approved, deputies could break up homeless encampments without checking to see if any space is available at nearby shelters.
The move follows a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing municipalities to enforce anti-camping laws and others. Previously, a lower court ruling prohibited law enforcement from citing or arresting people if there weren’t enough shelter beds for the local homeless population.
“This isn’t a trespassing call inside a store where you show up, and the store doesn’t want an individual there,” Richey said. “This is a different situation; this is public property … the deputies take a more measured, kind of systematic approach to it.”
He said the update won’t result in deputies doing mass sweeps and making a bunch of arrests. Instead, it’s about making contact with individuals and trying to refer them to services. If someone is reluctant to accept help and leave the area, then a deputy may cite or arrest them.