Businesses try to curb loitering teens

Teenagers who loiter around the STA Plaza downtown don’t understand why police and building security officers are so intent on running them off.

“We just want to hang out and see our friends,” said 18-year-old Brandon Elder. “A lot of kids don’t have anything else to do. We aren’t trying to hurt anybody.”

But downtown workers, building managers and police say the teens intimidate pedestrians and litter.

“It’s been an ongoing issue, and it seems to be getting worse,” said Chrissy McCullough, property manager for the Bank of America Financial Center. “But without having control of the sidewalks, we’re limited in what we can do.”

Spokane city officials, including police, and downtown building managers are trying to come up with a solution. One possibility would be for the city to vacate the sidewalks, giving property owners control of the areas surrounding their buildings. Another suggestion from the city attorney’s office would be to strengthen pedestrian laws.

“It’s miserable down here,” said Brad Wolvington, a Wackenhut security officer who patrols the Bank of America building.

“They congregate all along Wall Street opposite of the smoking area from the STA. Eight, 10 or 12 of them, and they won’t move out of the way. They have no respect for our customers, spitting on the sidewalks and on the building.”

Said Wolvington: “It would be so nice if the city could rededicate the sidewalks, so we had control.”

Apparently teens who hang out on Wall Street across from the STA Plaza know security officers currently don’t have the authority to make them leave.

When a security officer asked Elder and his friends to leave on Monday, Elder spit on the man’s shoe, the teenager said.

The city adopted a “pedestrian interference law” in 2001, said Mike Piccolo, a lawyer with the city attorney’s office. The law prohibits conduct that blocks pedestrian or vehicular traffic, and aggressive solicitation. But police have to catch violators in the act.

“If a person comes up to an officer and says, ‘A half-hour ago someone was blocking my way on the sidewalk,’ that person is probably not going to get a ticket,” Piccolo said.

Washington Trust Bank building manager Goodale & Barbieri Co. isn’t waiting for the city to do something.

The company hired off-duty sheriff’s deputies and Spokane police officers to patrol the area during the work week.

The program started Tuesday and will last throughout the summer.

“Just having a presence makes a difference,” said Deputy Tim Jones.

Jones told a 17-year-old boy he caught smoking Tuesday, “I’m not the enemy, but I’m going to be down here enforcing laws. There’s going to be zero tolerance.”