CC Minutes - 04/14/08 Work Session

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Ms. Taylor asked what types of offensive behaviors were currently not illegal. Chief Lehner said that presently under Oregon law it was not illegal to shout racial epithets at someone, but in many other jurisdic- tions there was a distinction between making a general hate-related statement and directing that statement against an individual with the intent to annoy, harass or harm that person. He said it was that distinction an ordinance would address. Ms. Taylor asked how an exclusionary zone would function. Chief Lehner said catching someone in an exclusionary zone engaged in an act specifically prohibited under the exclusionary statute would result in a sentence that excluded that person from the area for a period of time, with the exception of certain things such as medical appointments. Ms. Bettman asked for clarification on what Mr. Clark hoped to accomplish with the work session. She would support another work session to pursue in greater detail what the City could do with respect to exclusionary or enhance enforcement zones or other strategies if that was the intent. She agreed with Mr. Pryor about the need to address enforcement capacity as a part of any discussion of strategies. She would support consideration by the CCIGR of incorporating the issue of certain hate crimes in its legislative agenda if they were not already a part of State statute. She asked about problems deploying the Special Program bike and foot patrol to its full capacity. Chief Lehner explained that the intent was to hire and deploy two officers for a downtown parks patrol, but with the department’s existing staffing deficit it would be 18 to 24 months before those officers were available and then there would be no capacity to backfill. He said a special projects fund was recommended to allow the department to more efficiently deploy that number of hours of officers in that capacity. He said that was an overtime assignment and it was difficult to consistently deploy officers for ten hours a day, seven days a week. He said funding was sufficient to deploy to capacity but in the long-term more employees had to be hired. Ms. Bettman said it appeared that coverage was costing more because it was overtime, which meant there was overall less capacity. Chief Lehner clarified that for the same amount of money, staffing capacity to deploy through overtime meant more hours on the ground less expensively than hiring full-time staff. Mr. Zelenka said he was appalled by the downtown racist behaviors, but concerned about exclusionary zones and civil rights violations. He was interested in a hate-related harassment code for the City and would support the CCIGR reviewing whether it should be part of the City’s legislative agenda. Mr. Klein said the City had home rule authority to adopt criminal statutes but would need to research any specific proposal to assure there was no conflict with State statutes. Ms. Solomon said she would support any strategies that improved the livability of downtown Eugene, which was a critical element to the success of redevelopment efforts. She said that funding for EPD should be increased so police had the capacity to enforce laws. Ms. Piercy commented that more guides and more people working in downtown would help to improve conditions in downtown. She said lack of capacity throughout the criminal justice system also exacerbated the problem. Chief Lehner noted that nine new officers had been hired and would be deployed in May. Mr. Clark asked if the new officers would have any meaningful impact on what was happening downtown. Chief Lehner said incremental addition of positions over time was the key because that increased the ability to deploy officers for special projects. He said with a deficit of between 50 and 80 officers in patrol alone it would be some time before there was a significant difference. MINUTES—Eugene City Council April 14, 2008 Page 8 Work Session