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Law Enforcement Partnership to Reduce Underage Drinking

Law Enforcement Partnership to Reduce Underage Drinking

From a press release from the West Central Community Coalition regarding a proposed law enforcement partnership to reduce underage drinking:

Data shows that in a large portion of the Spokane Community arrest of youth is nearly twice that of the state average with alcohol being a contributing factor.

The West Central Community Coalition in partnership with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department, in collaboration with Spokane Police Department and Spokane School District 81 have received a grant to reduce and bring awareness of underage drinking in the community.

Data contained in the What’s Happening in West Central — A Community Needs Assessment Book shows that arrest of youth (10- 17) is nearly twice that of the state average with alcohol being a contributing factor.

The West Central Community Coalition is partnering with local law enforcement, Spokane County Community Services, and Whitworth University to reduce underage drinking thru the use of alcohol purchase surveys and compliance checks of local liquor retailers.

Additionally the coalition will be partnering with School District 81 to conduct student surveys in order to assess youth perception of alcohol consumption.

The geographic area for these efforts will be from the Spokane River north to Wellesley and from Division west to the Spokane River (see attached map).

In an effort to bring awareness of the impacts and costs associated with underage drinking, the Coalition [gave] a presentation to the Spokane City Council at its December 16th, 2013 meeting at 6 pm.

The West Central Community Coalition is comprised of local non-profits, social service agencies, and government entities and has been in existence since 1994.

Law enforcement partnership

As you’ll note from the map to the left, Emerson-Garfield neighborhood is part of the geographic area that falls under the remit of this law enforcement partnership. Portions of the North Hill and Northwest neighborhoods are part of it as well.

Kelly Cruz, who is helping to spearhead this effort on behalf of the West Central Community Coalition, will be presenting additional information on the initiative and answering questions about its scope, implementation, and ramifications at the upcoming Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council meeting on Wednesday, February 12.

October Neighborhood Council Meeting Recap

October Neighborhood Council Meeting Recap

Mere days before the Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council convenes for its meeting on Wednesday, November 13 at 7pm in the Corbin Senior Center, we thought it a good time to bring everyone up to speed on what the EGNC did last month.

After the meeting kicked off in the usual manner shortly after 7pm, Matt West of the Lands Council gave a presentation about Spokane River toxins and eating fish caught there. One of the two more common toxins is PCBs/PBDEs (flame retardants). Exposure to these chemicals comes from eating fish caught in the river. The other toxin is heavy metals, which are remnants of a century of mining upstream. Exposure to heavy metals comes from ingesting dirt or contact with broken skin. More information is available through the Lands Council.

Garbage Czar Karl Boldt noted that dump passes would be available after the meeting and on October 26 at the Corbin Senior Center.

Information concerning Photo Red funds was discussed next. Up until a recent decision by the City Council, all profits derived from red light fines — for context, $437,000 was raised in 2012 — were used to fund traffic-calming improvements like traffic circles and curb bump-outs. The recent vote by the City Council changed this allocation so that in the future, $100,000 of the total funds will go to the Spokane Police, $50,000 will go to the COPS program, and $20,000 will go to graffiti abatement. The rest will go for traffic calming. It should be noted that the EGNC, along with the Community Assembly and many other neighborhood councils voted (in an advisory capacity) to keep all funds collected through the Photo Red program strictly for traffic calming projects.

It was announced that Christ Clinic had successfully applied for a permit to allow them to use a house adjacent to their property for commercial use. It was previously zoned residential and a minor zone change was allowed.

Corbin Senior Center reported a successful Walk-Along at Corbin Park, which brought out more people than last year and raised $1,000. Harvard Park sponsored a Spaghetti Fundraiser, which brought in another $1,000. The Munch and Mingle Auction sold out the day before the event. Unfortunately, the Parks Department did not increase the contract funding amount for Corbin, even though a number of people (including representatives of the EGNC) wrote letters. Senator Andy Billig has offered to guide Corbin towards the possibility of maybe getting a grant for a new elevator. Corbin’s name will appear next month as we dole out Community Development Block Grant funds with a request for funds for a variety of needs.

The Emerson Community Garden is wrapping up its season, and there is a cleanup day scheduled for Sunday, October 20. Membership is just $20 a season and everyone shares in the harvest.

As of this meeting, there were two remaining Emerson-Garfield Farmers’ Markets for the season. Four raffles are set for the final gathering on Friday, October 18, and you must be present to win.

Megan Kennedy, who heads the Neighborhood Planning Committee, announced there is a big planning workshop meeting scheduled for the next evening (Thursday, October 10) from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Another meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 14 at the same place and time. The more people who attend, the better and more inclusive the planning effort will be.

Lt. Dean Sprague gave the monthly crime report. Statistics show that neighborhood crime rates are down. Starting on the first of the year, the Spokane Police Department will be surveying itself regarding racial profiling. Currently, 88% of those arrested are white males. Officers will be filling out information detailing demographics after every arrest that will then a collated, synthesized and processed to see how they are doing.

The Community Assembly has a retreat scheduled for Saturday, October 12 where the focus will be reinventing Community Assembly and Neighborhood Councils. Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich will be the keynote speaker.

New playground equipment for Emerson Park was installed in July. Sidewalks are also complete for this year and many of the projects are just now being wrapped up.

Training seminars for Building Stronger Neighborhoods have been going on, and the next one will be on October 21 at Corbin Senior Center. It will address the pros, cons and how-tos of neighborhood councils forming nonprofit organizations

The meeting was adjourned at 8:12pm.

Gang Awareness Presentation, Oct 8 & 15

Gang Awareness Presentation, Oct 8 & 15

Spokane COPS and the Spokane Violent Crime Task Force will be holding a gang awareness workshop called “Gang Awareness and Strategies for the Community” on two separate occasions: Tuesday, October 8 and 15. The first will be held at the Southside Senior Center (3151 E 27th) [map]; the second will be held at the Messiah Lutheran Church (4202 N Belt) [map]. Both start at 6pm and run until 8pm.

The event invites participants to come and learn about smart, realistic and positive ways to address gang problems and the allure they might have with teens and young adults.

Gang awareness flyer

The Spokane Police Department recommends the presentation to anyone who working with children under 20 years of age or their families. Gangs are a community problem and therefore require a community solution — that is, a collaborative approach of intervention, prevention and suppression.

For more information, please contact Maurece Vulcano at mvulcano@spokanepolice.org.

Spate of Emerson-Garfield Vehicle Thefts

Spate of Emerson-Garfield Vehicle Thefts

Spokane Police badgeCrime analysts in the Spokane Police Department have spotted an emerging trend of vehicle thefts in the Emerson-Garfield area over the last two days. Some stats:

  • Vehicles have been targeted between midnight and 3am
  • The target area is between Jefferson and Normandie (west/east); Knox and Boone (north/south)
  • Targeted vehicles are primarily ’90s sedans, with Hondas being half of the reported stolen vehicles

The Spokane Police Department is reminding citizens to lock car doors to help prevent these types of crimes from occurring. Another basic theft prevention measure is to use your garage instead of parking on the street. And if you’re part of a Neighborhood Watch group, now’s the time to notify your members and keep them on the alert.

If you see a crime in progress, please call 911. If you are reporting a crime that has already occurred, please call Crime Check at 456-2233.

Proposed Changes to Photo Red: Your Input Is Needed

Proposed Changes to Photo Red: Your Input Is Needed

The Spokane City Council is currently looking at the Photo Red program to see if they want to recommend to the Spokane Police Department to move forward with retaining or amending the contract language.

Neighborhood councils like ours need to be proactive when it comes time for open discussion as to where those funds may be allocated. There is expected to be discussion as to using some of the funds for purposes other than neighborhood traffic calming projects such as roundabouts and speed limit signs. Right now, Photo Red funds can only be used for traffic calming, and a recent vote by the EGNC came out in favor of keeping it this way.

The Community Assembly (which is sort of a roundtable of all Spokane neighborhood councils) is asking for our feedback on this issue so as to introduce it as a discussion topic for the City Council this autumn.

We ask that residents of Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood take the following informal poll(s) so we can provide feedback to the Community Assembly.

[yop_poll id=”2″]
[yop_poll id=”3″]

If you voted “No” on the poll titled Photo Red Funding, please use the comments section below to suggest where you would spend Photo Red funds in addition to neighborhood traffic calming projects.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!