(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE, Wash. -Property crime in Spokane is nothing new. We hear about it every day. In a June of this year, a report by reports.org used FBI data and ranked Spokane as the third most dangerous city when it comes to property crime.
Spokane Mayor David Condon wants to add ten more officers to the streets to help reduce property crime in the city.
"We saw a need in the detective work, especially for your higher level of property crime. We see those investments paying off for our citizens," said Mayor Condon.
However, since the beginning of the year, Spokane Police have been working hard. Property crime is already down 13 percent over last year, commercial burglaries down ten percent and vehicle thefts are down too.
Johnny Warren, who lives in Spokane, thinks the city needs more officers patrolling the streets.
"Most city in America right now probably needs a little more help. There's too few of them for how much crime and how many people need help at this point," said Warren.
Right now Spokane has 328 total officers, and this addition would bring it up to 338 officers. Since 2012 the department has grown by 42 officers. Another top priority for the mayor is keeping the 48 firefighters who were hired with a $9 million FEMA SAFER grant in 2016.
With that grant, the Spokane Fire Department was able to open a new fire station and boost service with their alternate response unit which is used for medical calls. Those smaller units allow the fire department to be flexible when responding to public needs and keep the larger engines at the station for other calls.
Mayor Condon wants to use a onetime million dollar payment to continue to pay the firefighters through next year.
"I am suggesting that we put one time million dollars to carry those folks through the end of the year, so we have two years of good data,” added Mayor Condon.
The Condon administration is committed to keeping those firefighters hired through the grant. But the city is still studying the program and the data before making a final decision.
"So as we are in front of the public at about this time that we have good program data where we can make the right choices of investments and to see whether if that workout," added Mayor Condon