Preparing for Trouble in River City

Spokane Police held their riot training exercises today at Joe Albi Stadium. Spokane, which is a medium sized city considered to be a backwater by the elites who reside on the West side of the state, has the state's only police riot school. The Spokane police riot squad regularly attend large public events, although there has been no riot in the area since the Washington State University riots in 1998, and that happened in Whitman County, not in the River City or in Spokane County. What are they preparing for?

Read about it here. The story seems to imply that there have been no riots in Spokane since 1998 because of the riot squad (actually there haven't been any riots in Spokane in all of the years I have lived here). This makes as much sense as my claim that no elephants have invaded Spokane because I carry a lucky rabbit's foot.

Incidentally, Spokane has arguably the least corrupt police chief in the twenty years I have lived here. The Spokane Police Guild (the union) has recently voted "no confidence" in Chief Kirkpatrick, appearing to be largely based upon her discipline of misbehaving and rogue officers, who should be taken off the streets in the interest of public safety. Story here.

With the riot squad and a Region 10 FEMA camp at the old Farragut Naval Station at nearby Lake Pend Oreille, I wonder what the heck is going on here. I sense that we soon shall find out.