The Downtown Spokane Partnership is offering financial rebates to its member businesses that work to make their buildings and land more of a deterrent to crime.
“Things like lighting, cameras, trimming vegetation,” said Daniel Hall, the partnership’s director of ambassadors and its clean team.
He says the partnership is now taking applications from firms that want to be reimbursed for some of their costs. The organization will award up to $2,500 to individual companies and a total of $26,000 in small grants. The money comes from the assessments businesses pay to the downtown business district.
Security ambassador Jesse Hawkins says several downtown businesses have already done work in this area.
“A good lighting example would be over at First and Lincoln. There’s a parking area over there that has converted to all LED lighting. When you go over there, it’s very vibrant and bright. You can see everything. There’s no hidden spaces. You don’t have to worry about anybody camped out or hiding in any unsafe areas,” Hawkins said.
He says the program is part of an international movement called “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.” He and a co-worker went to Las Vegas for a week to train how to implement the system here.
The partnership will take applications from interested businesses through the end of September.