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Council Member Zappone Responds to County Public Safety Leaders

Lisa Gardner, City Council Communications Director, 509.625.6226 & Jackson Deese, Legislative Aid, 509.625.6718

Tuesday, October 14, 2025 at 8:47 a.m.

“It’s disappointing that Spokane County public safety officials would hide behind a press release targeting me rather than answer the serious questions me and my constituents have about jail capacity,” said Council Member Zappone.

“I have personally invited Chief Hooper and his staff to attend the city’s Public Safety and Community Health Committee numerous times. The last several attempts have returned no response as of today.

  • On September 3rd, 2025, I emailed Chief Hooper and Lieutenant Sparber inviting them to the September 8th Public Safety and Community Health Committee meeting.
  • On September 5th, 2025, I followed up with Lieutenant Sparber clarifying my understanding of his attendance. Lieutenant Sparber then clarified that there was a misunderstanding, and he would not be attending the September 8th Committee meeting.
  • On September 8th, 2025, I followed up with Lieutenant Sparber and included Chief Hooper, making clear that we would accommodate their schedules and host them at any 12 p.m. Committee, 3:30 p.m. Agenda Review session, or 11:00 a.m. special study session on Thursdays.
  • On September 15th, 2025, I followed up again, mentioning that I had not heard back from either Lieutenant Sparber or Chief Hooper in a week, and again extending the invitation to present. This received no response.

My constituents and residents of Spokane are concerned about jail capacity and don’t know what is going on. As Public Safety and Community Health chair, I have tried to get clarity and jail leadership has stopped responding.” Council Member Zappone said.

“If a member of the public visits Spokane County’s Detention Services Dashboard, they will find that the jail has been in red light status for 124 hours in the last month. That equates to twenty percent of the time. Red light status makes it challenging for officers to book those that they arrest and can mean that officers spend hours watching over their detainees waiting for red light status to end.

I invite leadership to our next Public Safety and Community Health Committee meeting on Monday, October 27 to clarify. This is an opportunity for them to educate the public instead of making statements in a press release.” Council Member Zappone said.

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