Hanging out in Spokane parks after hours could soon come with the threat of handcuffs. Under city law, violating park hours is currently a civil infraction, which can carry a $261 fine. But the Spokane Police Department argues that groups of people causing trouble have become increasingly brazen, and that the threat of arrest is necessary in order to "take back the parks at night."
A new ordinance — introduced during a City Council committee meeting last week, with support from police and the city's Parks and Recreation Department — would make being in parks after hours a misdemeanor that could lead to arrest.
Police Capt. Thomas Hendren told council members that the change is necessary because people don't take the current penalties seriously and will often ignore orders to leave the parks.
"Our officers have no authority when it comes to this noncompliance," Hendren said.
If people knew the police had the power to arrest them, Hendren said, they'd be less likely to gather after hours in the first place. He added that actual arrests would rarely be necessary under the ordinance.
It's against the law to be in city parks between 10 pm and 6 am, with the exception of Riverfront Park, which closes at midnight. During those late night hours, police say they've seen increased problems with groups of people drinking, fighting, doing drugs and, on several occasions, shooting each other.
In a letter to City Council, Hendren said 2022 was a "year of unprecedented violence within city parks," with three after-hours shootings resulting in nine victims struck by gunfire.
Parks Director Garrett Jones, who worked with police on the ordinance, says vandalism in city parks has also increased in severity and frequency over the past two or so years. He says his department has spent $164,000 repairing vandalism in just the past six months and Parks and Rec needs help to address these problems.
But not everyone who hangs out in parks after dark is causing problems. What about the dog walkers, early morning joggers and people walking home from a late-night shift?
Council member Karren Stratton, who is sponsoring the ordinance along with Council members Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart, says those people don't have to worry. Police will use discretion, Stratton says, and "aren't interested in messing with good people."
But Council President Breean Beggs worries that letting police pick and choose who faces arrest could be unconstitutional and lead to biased enforcement and pretextual stops. Beggs is proposing an alternative ordinance that would require police to give people a warning first — meaning people could be arrested for refusing to leave, but not for being in the park after hours in the first place.
"It's just way more defensible legally, and it's less potential for mischief," Beggs says.
In his letter to council members, Hendren said that Beggs' proposal would eat up limited patrol resources and that people would continue to gather because they know they wouldn't be arrested immediately. Beggs is skeptical of both those assertions.
The ordinance is still being workshopped. Stratton says meetings with groups like the equity subcommittee have been productive, and that she hopes to fine-tune the ordinance to address people's questions and concerns.
Jones says the current goal is to bring the ordinance back to the City Council for a vote by mid-June — before warmer weather and the end of the school year bring even more people to city parks after dark. ♦
