South Browne Gets Cleaned Up Quickly It Was Becoming A Haven For Criminals Just Weeks Ago

It’s a neighborhood that was becoming a haven for criminals.

Just three weeks ago, Browne Street from Pacific to Second was teeming with prostitutes hustling tricks and dealers selling heroin in alleys. Police were unaware of the problem. Vulnerable neighbors were suffering.

Fed up with the noise and the crime, residents called on police and business owners to make their neighborhood safe again.

On Thursday, those neighbors met with officers and merchants at The Wilton Apartments, 154 S. Browne, and learned that speaking out pays off.

“In the last two weeks it’s been a ghost town down here,” said patrol Officer Bill Hager, who helped set up surveillance in the neighborhood and run regular patrols to track down prostitutes and drug sales.

“The prostitutes and drug dealers have moved on.”

Business owners also have installed more lighting on the outside of their buildings, kept close track of their patrons, and cleaned up the broken bottles and trash that can often draw an unseemly crowd.

“We definitely recognize the challenge we have as far as the drug problem,” said John Hughes, owner of Johnny Rockets bar, which is in the same building as The Wilton. “We’re trying our hardest to do our part.”

Wilton residents, many of whom are recovering from drug and alcohol addictions, said they were pleased with the progress.

South Browne had, in recent months, become a place where they were frightened and frustrated. After the Merlin Apartments at 29 W. Second Ave. closed, many of Spokane’s drug dealers and prostitutes moved and began working along Browne.

“It was just not good to have that much activity, that tempting, for people in their own recovery,” said Kim Rasp, who manages The Wilton for Spokane Housing Ventures.

The residents admitted that the neighborhood has never been a quiet place, with bars, convenience stores and a major arterial on each side of the building.

But, they had valid concerns about the ever-growing number of criminals on their streets. Until a few weeks ago, they felt no one was paying attention.

Police admit they didn’t know how much South Browne had degenerated.

“We hadn’t even realized how bad it had gotten down here until we began surveillance,” said police Sgt. Bill Drollinger. “It had become like West First was a few years ago.”

After seeing the influx of criminal activity, swing and graveyard shift officers quickly began working together to force out the drugs and prostitution.

A few Wilton residents suspected of dealing drugs or soliciting prostitutes were put under watch. Business owners were shown how to keep criminals off their property.

Within 14 days, sex and drug sales became few and far between.

“This is one of the fastest, most successful, efforts we’ve had in getting criminals out of an area,” Drollinger said. “But, it’s a continuous effort. We need to be vigilant.”

Officers aren’t sure where the criminals have migrated to, and said that the next step for them is to find out and to keep them moving.

Meanwhile, although they haven’t formed a formal group, residents have agreed to keep their eyes open. Officer patrols in the area have slowed down, but South Browne is a place police will stay focused on for a while.