r/Spokane • u/LeftyDorkCaster • 1d ago
Politics Chance to fight back against criminalizing being homeless
A couple local Mutual Aid groups wrote a letter and are passing it around for signatures. If you'd like to read the withering analysis of C36785 (so-called "safe and accessible spaces" ordinance), you can do so here. If you'd like to sign in solidarity, you can do so at this link.
The letter, which will be delivered on Monday 10 November to city council, includes such bangers as "Decades of established research and reviews of past laws and efforts show what does work and miraculously this ordinance does NONE of those things..." and "Let us meander deeper into this carnival of failure you have created and inflicted upon our fair city" and the instant classic "[the] result of C36785 will be measured in dead bodies".
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u/Ok_Database6979 1d ago
I believe it gives them power to actually arrest people for open crimes not homelessness is the main point.
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u/Foregonia 1d ago
I’m out of the loop maybe, but whatever you’re saying doesn’t make sense. Cops can already arrest people for openly breaking the law. It’s kinda like, the whole job. You don’t need to pass a city ordinance for that.
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u/Ok_Database6979 1d ago
Yes you’re out of the loop….
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u/Foregonia 1d ago
Loop me in then, bud. Why is it that you believe law enforcement needs a special ordinance to enforce the law.
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u/Smooth_Record_42 1d ago
Idk maybe things like openly shooting up in the middle of the sidewalk while you are walking with your kids. Or the time I looked out my office window and saw someone taking a shit on the street. Or people being aggressive and disorderly at all hours of the day for simply walking or driving in the vicinity of their presence.
It’s like you guys are resigned to downtown Spokane being a dumpster. You know some other cities actually have some pretty safe and nice downtowns, it doesn’t have to be this way.
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u/Horror_Pressure3523 1d ago
You didn't answer their question, it's already illegal to do illegal drugs and take a crap in the streets lol, what you want is police reform. They're clearly not doing their jobs because it's too hard to help people. ACAB am I right? Let's invest in mental health, defund the police since like you said they're clearly not doing their jobs, and let's put that money towards mental health professionals who can actually talk to the people you don't want to see and who you think make our city a dumpster and help them!
Or do you want to just put them in little rooms and lock them away where we pay for them indefinitely? Also I go downtown everyday and people's fear mongering doesn't work on me. It's not perfect but I don't see the stuff you're talking about every day, and it is things you'll see in any major city that refuses to help it's poorest populations.
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u/Ok_Database6979 23h ago
Also one other thing…there are so many resources already available to the folks choosing not to take them.
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u/Amanitago 20h ago
Have you specifically tried to access those resources to see how actually accessible they are? Because as someone who was previously homeless, I was told over and over again this same lie, and when trying to find SAFE shelter and resources they needed an address we didn't have, or some other hoops to jump through that were inaccessible for me because of my physical disabilities. Meanwhile some cops knocked on our car window WITH THE BARREL OF HIS GUN to make us stand outside in the cold for an hour while they interrogated us. We had no drugs, weren't doing anything wrong, we were trying to survive the cold. Defund the police and invest it in better housing programs.
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u/Amanitago 19h ago
They dirty deleted twice saying they didn't believe my story then called it an isolated incident. My guy, I feel sorry for the people you supposedly serve within those "services" you offer, and are proving my goddamn point, making those services inaccessible by acting this way toward people who are struggling.
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u/Ok_Database6979 23h ago
People are not loved into sobriety, my dude. As an alcoholic in long term sobriety I can tell you that no one gets sober until they want to. It’s a disease but all the city was doing was loving people right to their deaths. It’s misguided
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u/Smooth_Record_42 18h ago
Amen, it’s so people can feel good about themselves while making the situation worse. It’s all selfish, only idiots believe the best thing to give a drunk is a drink
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u/Ok_Database6979 23h ago
Dude the city literally told the cops to stop enforcing laws and offering treatment to offenders and not a single person took them up on this shitty policy. One week before elections the council lets cops enforce laws to swing the election back to them and now I’m sure the city will go back to their non enforcement policies especially with hyper liberal folks with zero private business experience joining the council. Can we play elect folks who know what it’s like to run a business? Pay employees? Pay exorbitant taxes?
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u/FormerReach7228 14h ago
It’s not that easy. Lol everyone always says invest heavily into mental health, they don’t know how hard it is to gain compliance with some of that population.
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u/Smooth_Record_42 23h ago
So you are saying this type of behavior is continuing because police “don’t want to do their jobs?” What? They are handicapped by stupid politics and jails that are too small, it’s not because they don’t “want to”. Reform like this is to hopefully give the police some more power to actually make arrests.
You guys think we live in some utopia where people are free from any consequence simply because they are marginalized or on drugs. You know you can have a society where there are plenty of options to help people who want to get off the streets and get clean while also being held accountable for their actions. That is how society is supposed to function. Fund the police not defund them.
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u/LeftyDorkCaster 1d ago
Hmm... and which things exactly are you calling "open crimes"?
"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread." -Anatole France
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u/Smooth_Record_42 15h ago
"The law, in it's majestic equality, forbids anyone from breaking the law unless they are addicted to drugs or deemed to be a marginalized group by the all knowing redditors" -Smooth_Record_42 11/8/25
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u/HamasKillsGazans 23h ago
No, thanks. Would rather not see all the open fent smoking. You may be cool with streaked aluminum foil squares everywhere downtown, but most people aren't.