CC Minutes - 09/24/01 Work Session

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B. Work Session: Joint Meeting with the Police Commission The council was joined by Police Commission members Dr. Munir Katul, John Brown, Carla Newbre, Richard Hursey, Maurice Denner, and Tim Laue for the item. Eugene Police Chief Jim Hill, Captain Elvia Williams, and commission staff Jeanine Parisi were also present. Mr. Brown, chair of the Police Commission, reviewed the order of the commission's presentation. Dr. Katul, chair of the commission during 2000 to 2001, reviewed the commission's accomplishments over the past year, highlighting the commission's findings and recommendations on crowd control and police use-of-force policies and the development of a community values statement related to those policies. Dr. Katul described the public involvement process that accompanied the development of those documents. He commended the assistance of the Police Department and the American Civil Liberties Union in those efforts. Dr. Katul noted commission members' participation in efforts such as the Racial Profiling Task Force and Hobson Report deliberations. He said that the commission worked closely with all levels of the department and worked to develop trust with the staff. Dr. Katul said the commission hoped to further increase public involvement as it worked through issues related to community policing. He briefly noted some past outreach efforts to the media and public. Dr. Katul said that the commission embarked on its work on community policing by first educating itself about the concept and its current status in Eugene. He said work on other issues had delayed progress on community policing, but that the work item would be addressed in the proposed work plan. Ms. Nathanson asked about the extent to which the commission collaborated with staff of the Municipal Court or with the Public Safety Coordinating Council (PSCC), and if the commission thought such collaboration was useful. Mr. Brown indicated that he would discuss the commission's liaisons in his part of the presentation, and noted that Ms. Newbre was the commission's liaison to the PSCC. Ms. Newbre discussed the commission's upcoming work program, focusing on activities related to community policing, which included development of a vision statement and a public input solicititation action plan. The commission hoped to educate the public about community policing and learn about its values and priorities. Ms. Newbre said the commission also hoped to develop findings and recommendations that ensured community policing implementation strategies reflected best practices and were consistent with those values and priorities. She indicated that the commission would go out to the public to seek its input through forums as well have a Speakers Bureau, and would conduct opinion polls through a questionnaire. Mayor Torrey left the meeting. MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 24, 2001 Page 2 Work Session