Item 3: Downtown Public Safety Zone Ordinance

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ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Public Hearing: An Ordinance Concerning Downtown Public Safety Zones; and Adding Sections 4.873, 4.874, 4.875, 4.876, 4.877 and 4.878 to the Eugene Code, 1971 Meeting Date: July 21, 2008 Agenda Item Number: 3 Department: Police Staff Contact: Robert M. Lehner, Chief of Police www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 541-682-5102 ISSUE STATEMENT This is the public hearing on a proposed ordinance to establish a Downtown Public Safety Zone for the City of Eugene. The ordinance would allow the municipal court to exclude persons who commit certain crimes from the zone. BACKGROUND In response to growing disorder-related issues in the downtown core, including crimes against people and property, Councilors Andrea Ortiz and Mike Clark organized several downtown safety meetings that were attended by EPD command staff, downtown business operators, and other interested parties. As a result, EPD agreed to develop short, intermediate, and long-term strategies to address the problem. On April 14, 2008, at the request of the City Council, the first work session on downtown public safety was held to discuss the Eugene Police Department’s Special Projects program and other short and long-term strategies that have been utilized to manage disorder-related issues in Eugene’s downtown. A second City Council work session was held on June 9, 2008, to discuss creating a Downtown Public Safety Zone ordinance as a long-term strategy for downtown safety issues. The council discussed several modifications to the Downtown Public Safety Zone proposal at their June 9 work session; and decided to hold a public hearing prior to making any changes to the proposed ordinance. Exclusion Zones Exclusion zones are an enforcement tool that has been utilized in the past by the City of Eugene, with varied levels of success and controversy. The proposed ordinance (attachment A) creates the Downtown Public Safety Zone and provides for exclusion from the zone for 90 days if a municipal court judge finds by a preponderance of evidence that a person committed certain offenses within the zone. The proposed ordinance also provides for exclusion for a term of one year upon conviction of certain offenses committed in the zone. The proposed exclusion ordinance also empowers the municipal court to grant excluded persons variances to enter the zone for a variety of purposes. Both the City of Eugene and other communities have successfully utilized exclusion zones in the past. Similar exclusion zones in the City of Portland have survived various legal challenges. The City’s Prostitution Free Zone ordinance virtually eradicated street level prostitution in the West Jefferson and Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M080721\S0807213.doc