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<br />M I N U T E S <br /> <br /> <br />Eugene City Council <br />Work Session <br />McNutt Room – City Hall <br />777 Pearl Street—Eugene, Oregon <br /> <br /> October 28, 2009 <br /> 12:00 p.m. <br /> <br />COUNCILORS PRESENT: Chris Pryor, Mike Clark, George Poling, George Brown, Andrea Ortiz, Alan <br />Zelenka, Betty Taylor, Jennifer Solomon <br /> <br />Mayor Kitty Piercy called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m. <br />Eugene Police Department (EPD) Chief Pete Kerns briefed the council on a recent EPD incident during which a <br />suspect had been tasered. Chief Kerns described the incident for the benefit of the Council. After the incident <br />the officer did exactly what we expect of them. They reported the use of force through their chain of <br />command to me. Chief Kerns noted he had spoken and shared details of the incident with City Manager Jon <br />Ruiz, Mayor Piercy and Councilor Brown regarding the incident and that EPD Patrol Captain Rich Stronach had <br />also conferred with Police Auditor Mark Gissiner. <br />Chief Kerns noted that Mr. Gissiner had recently classified the tasering incident as an allegation of misconduct <br />requiring an EPD Internal Affairs investigation, which subsequently prohibited Chief Kerns and any other EPD <br />personnel from sharing any further details regarding the incident with the public. <br />Chief Kerns noted that the EPD Internal Affairs investigation regarding the tasering incident would proceed <br />through normal channels and that Mr. Gissiner would have the same level of investigative access as the EPD’s <br />Internal Affairs personnel. Chief Kerns hoped that all relevant parties involved in the incident could be <br />interviewed expediently and believed that the investigation might ideally be completed within the next 60 days. <br />Chief Kerns noted that Mr. Gissiner and the City’s Civilian Review Board (CRB) would have adjudicative <br />decisions to make regarding the investigation once it had been completed. Chief Kerns assured the Council that <br />the CRB would have exactly the same information made available to them as was made available to himself, <br />and Mr. Gissiner. <br />Chief Kerns recognized that the tasering incident would attract a great deal of public attention and believed that <br />the EPD and the City had been much more transparent and forthright regarding the incident and subsequent <br />administrative procedures than in other similar instances. <br />Chief Kerns stated for the benefit of the Council that he had the authority to initiate administrative investigations <br />into use of force incidents and would be willing to do so if necessary. He further reported that the use of force <br />administrative reviews did not restrict the release of information to the public in the same manner as EPD <br />Internal Affairs investigations into allegations of misconduct did. <br />Chief Kerns noted that the EPD, from the recent tasering incident, had learned the value of notifying certain <br />members of the community so that appropriate levels of transparency and oversight could be maintained. <br />Chief Kerns believed it was far better for himself, the EPD, the Eugene City Council, the media, and the <br />community at large when he could be as candid and forthcoming as possible regarding use of force incidents. <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 28, 2009 Page 1 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />