10/10/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Valarie S~ker, 860 East 23rd, opposed the ordinance. She often felt harrassed by the police on the mall and felt the ordinance e was drawn up to favor just the businessmen. She felt very far from the Eugene businessmen, noting if she were loitering, reading, or hitchhiking, she should be able to be on the mall as much as anyone else without being questioned for her motives for being there. Public hearing was closed, there being no further testimony presented. Ms. Smith asked Chief Brooks to respond to the question of women hitchhiking and how the Police Department would handle that problem. Chief Brooks said procedures would be established for police officers to follow, and the police officer would know a young women was engaged in prostitution before she was stopped on the street. In regard to the concern about hitchhiking, he felt those concerns were valid. He noted since the recent action by the Police Department on August 29, before that time and since that time, the Police Department has not accosted hitchhikers on the mall. He said it was not how a person looked that identified her as a prostitute, it is what that person is doing. There would be procedural guidelines to be used by the police officers in following this ordinance, the police officer would have to see repeated actions and observe those things that prostitutes do. Ms. Smith had asked for ages of the young women involved in prosti- tution and understood the average was around 20, noting there could be many females 14, 15, and 16 years of age involved. Chief Brooks e replied that since August 29, that there had been no arrests for prostitution. From January to August 29, 41 arrests had been made involving 22 girls, with the average age 20-1/2. He said over 90 percent of those young women were local residents. Mr. lieuallen said, as he recalled, there had been several objectives in mind in writing this ordinance: 1) cosmetic action to make the mall more attractive; and 2) to rid the city of the associated crimi- nal activity. He asked Chief Brooks to review for Council what some of those criminal activities were and how the ordinance would affect them; and also to address the concern that if the prosititutes were not on the streets, but go elsewhere such as expensive motels and hotels around the area, whether criminal activity involved would be more expensive. Chief Brooks responded that when prostitution was left uncontrolled, it brings in narcotics, an increase in robberies and assaults, extortion, corruption of public officials, and murder. As far as where the prostitution would go, he said he was not so naive as to say all prostitution problems in Eugene would be totally elimi- nated. He said the younger females might find some other employment activity, but those who have chosen a life of prostitution would have to find another place to go. He felt they would probably go to another town. e 10/10/77--3 1(;,1