Don Bissinger of Community Detox Services: “Not any of us were born a drunk or an addict.”
Public Safety
Carrying the Wayward The Emergency Services Patrol van sweeps downtown Spokane, picking up alcoholics and addicts lost on the streets BY JACOB JONES
D
iscreet save for an orange light bar across the roof, the green passenger van patrols the dark streets of downtown Spokane. As the van pulls into a gas station parking lot on a recent Friday, a large woman in a hooded jacket flashes a drunken grin and waves her arms wildly. “Hey!” she shouts, rushing up to the driver-side window. “We missed you, Barry!” Behind the wheel, Barry asks the woman how she has been. She beams a gap-toothed smile. She’s doing good, she slurs. He will be proud. She bets him she blows less than a .2 percent blood alcohol level on the breathalyzer.
Her skinny companion smokes a cigarette nearby, shuffling his feet on the pavement. He calls into the darkness. “We’re going to the sobering unit!” he yells across the lot. “You coming?” Another man staggers out of the shadows. He looks around, eyes narrowed. He drags a grimy backpack. All three wobble as they walk. They smell of alcohol and speak with a slippery rhythm. For more than 30 years, the City of Spokane has contracted with local groups to operate a roving detox van, patrolling the city streets each night for wayward addicts and alcoholics. Once located, the intoxicated individuals
Jacob Jones photo
can recover overnight in a sobering unit — like a jailhouse drunk tank, but voluntary. Barry, who asked to be identified by first name only, has driven a van for Community Detox Services of Spokane for nearly three years. The nonprofit organization offers a variety of chemical dependency and support services, but they also run the city’s only patrolling detox van. Proponents say the van program keeps endangered people off the streets without tying up expensive medical or law enforcement resources. With strong support from local emergency responders, the Spokane City Council voted last week to extend the detox van’s patrol hours and reserve an extra bed in the sobering unit for late weekend nights. On the first night of the extended schedule, Barry prepares to work until 3 am. Latex gloves over his hands and a chirping police radio on his hip, he patiently helps all three of his new passengers into the green van, dispatched as “Car 50.” They slump comfortably into their seats. “I don’t even know where I’m at right yet,” one admits. Don’t worry, the woman answers with a laugh: “This is the party van.” ...continued on next page
MARCH 28, 2013 INLANDER 13