City to Announce Next Chapter of H.O.M.E. Starts Here Initiative

City of Spokane Leaders to Announce Next Chapter of H.O.M.E. Starts Here Initiative

Erin Hut, Communications Director, [email protected]

Monday, October 6, 2025 at 11:49 a.m.

Mayor Lisa Brown, Councilmember Zack Zappone, and Police Chief Kevin Hall will soon introduce Spokane's next phase of engagement and enforcement under the H.O.M.E. Starts Here initiative.

City leaders will use Monday's Public Safety meeting and a Tuesday press conference to announce next steps as the city scales up resources through the launch of the daytime navigation center and new coordinated street outreach team. These next steps will include strategies to end public camping and open drug use by giving officers more discretion to issue citations, increase new interventions for those who repeatedly come into contact with law enforcement, expand targeted outreach, and encourage community participation in achieving solutions.

Recommendations for updating the engagement and enforcement ordinance will be drafted in collaboration with community and business partners, as well as the Spokane Police Department.

"We want outreach to people in crisis. We also want public camping and open drug use to end, for the sake of people who are living outside and struggling, and for our collective sense of safety," Mayor Brown said. "This work is about balance, and we are committed to connecting people to the resources they need, while also creating an enforcement mechanism for those who continually choose to violate the law."

"Our community deserves both compassion and accountability. By updating our engagement and enforcement ordinance, I believe we can achieve both and create a system that connects resources to those who are ready for them, while also holding accountable those who repeatedly create public disorder," Councilmember Zack Zappone said.

"Based on the data we have compiled so far, it is clear that officers need more discretion in determining when citations and arrests are appropriate. Updating the ordinance to develop a comprehensive set of accountability tools will align with the new street outreach model and day services launched this week. We now have places to direct folks to so they can connect to the resources they need, while at the same time ensuring accountability for those who refuse to comply with the law, to the detriment of all," Chief Hall said..

Mayor Brown, Councilmember Zappone, Chief Hall, and community partners will hold a press conference Tuesday morning to discuss the goals of the update. Press conference details are forthcoming.

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