Spokane to buy $125,000 worth of flood lights for residences to deter crime

The city of Spokane will spend $125,000 to pay for motion -sensor flood lights on residential properties to deter neighborhood crime.

The Spokane City Council approved $150,000 for the program Monday night, of which $25,000 is budgeted for marketing and outreach. Another $75,000 is tentatively budgeted to reimburse homeowners who purchase and install their own lights.

The remaining $50,000 would be spent purchasing and in some cases installing lights for victims of crime, residents in high-crime areas identified by the Spokane Police Department, residents who can’t afford the cost or residents with disabilities who cannot install themselves. The program will be funded by some of the last of the city’s COVID-19 federal relief funds, which legally must be spoken for by the end of the year.

The city is working with Avista to come up with a list of effective and affordable lights, specifically ones that are either solar- or battery-powered and could be installed in areas, such as alleyways, where it may not be possible to connect to city power. Further details about the program and how residents can access it are expected by the end of the year, Public Works Director Marlene Feist said.

Councilman Michael Cathcart, who helped lead efforts to get the program off the ground, said that the issue of unlit areas of the city came to his attention during his first campaign for city office in 2019.

“Lighting on its own is a helpful deterrent,” Cathcart said.

“People like to operate in the shadows when they’re doing bad stuff, so it’s a great way to make some of the neighborhoods safer, particularly the alleyways, which only in part have had lighting. I would love to see us do more to install lights just about everywhere.”

As a safeguard to ensure that the program is lighting up the places where it is most needed, the city will track data about which streets receive added lighting, along with property crime reports.

It is not clear whether prior victims of crime, residents of high-crime areas or lower-income or disabled residents will be able to apply for assistance or if a referral will be necessary.

At an Oct. 7 committee meeting, city staff indicated that Spokane officers may hand out materials to crime victims to promote the program, for example.