Downtown Partnership skeptical of police precinct move

Mark Richards, president of the Downtown Spokane Partnership, voiced concern to the Spokane City Council Monday night about the police department’s plan to move its downtown precinct from its current location next to the STA plaza.

Richards said that downtown businesses, through his organization, have paid the lease on the precinct’s current location through July 2016. Richards was critical of police leaving the facility vacant while businesses pay $2,433 a month. Richards also said he was “deeply concerned” that the gains to control crime downtown could be undone if the precinct were moved.

Council President Ben Stuckart said council members were not aware of the outstanding lease, and would look into it.

The police department plans to move its downtown location to the Intermodal Center, at 211 W. First Ave. Under interim Chief Rick Dobrow, the department is no longer planning to decentralize its operations into citywide precincts, but it will keep its downtown and Hillyard precincts open.