Jan. 8—In its first meeting of 2025, the Spokane Valley City Council took a step in a public safety effort more than a year in the making.
The council voted unanimously Tuesday to add four deputies and a lieutenant to the patrol division of the Spokane Valley Police Department, two detectives and a sergeant to the precinct’s investigative unit, and one deputy each for the traffic division and homeless services outreach.
The 10 law enforcement positions were funded and approved by the council last February, bringing the number of available positions in the police force to 101. How those deputies would be assigned upon joining the department remained undetermined prior to Tuesday’s action.
Three of the positions have been filled, and those deputies will be able to join the force full time after completing their training in the coming months, according to data provided by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office at Tuesday’s meeting.
Spokane Valley has contracted with the sheriff’s office for police services since its incorporation in 2003, making the city’s police department essentially a precinct of the sheriff’s office.
Perennial meeting attendee and Spokane Valley resident John Harding told the council he was pleased to see progress on the issue that’s dominated the weekly Tuesday gatherings for more than a year.
There’s been widespread support among the public, as well as the council, to bolster the city’s police force since a consultant group recommended adding 25 deputies following a 2023 study of the city’s police services.
“It’s nice to see that we’re taking some positive steps to address our obvious need in public safety,” Harding said, before inquiring about any further progress to meet all of the consultant’s recommendations.
The three deputies hired to fill the newly created roles are part of a wave of 15 freshly trained deputies to join the force in 2025, according to sheriff’s office data. The department had only seven vacancies as of Dec. 30.