Item 5: Ordinance on Downtown Public Safety Zones

Home Browse Search

urination or defecation has been added to the list.) Finally, Version C of the ordinance creates the offense of Violation of Downtown Public Safety Zone Restrictions. Exclusion zones create an increased sense of safety for community members who live and work in the designated zone. For example, parks exclusions provide officers with an alternative to incarceration that displaces chronic violators, creating a greater sense of safety in our parks and playgrounds. The civil penalty of exclusion is designed to hold offenders accountable for their actions, to remove offenders from unhealthy environments and to break the cycle of criminal and offensive behavior. The absence of repeat offenders from the designated zone can improve commerce and encourage a more welcoming environment for visitors and residents of the area. On the other hand, the use of exclusion zones can curtail the freedom of an excluded person to move about within the exclusion zone. This proposed exclusion ordinance, like the City’s previous prostitution and downtown mall exclusion ordinances, allows excluded persons to apply for variances to enter the zone for certain specific purposes (for example, to access social services within the zone). Allowing subjects excluded by ordinance into the zone for important services is essential and can also be challenging. The City received some complaints when previous exclusion zones were active that exclusions were not consistently applied, leading to some perception of disparate enforcement. All three versions of the proposed ordinance require that exclusion be imposed by a judge, after a hearing, ensuring due process for excluded persons. In addition, the availability of the Police Auditor and the Civilian Review Board as additional avenues for individuals who believe that they have not been treated fairly to register their complaints with the City, may also potentially mitigate disparate enforcement concerns. All three versions of the proposed ordinance require a municipal court judge to find by a preponderance of evidence that the person committed a certain crime within the zone before the exclusion becomes effective. The 90-day exclusion upon an order issued by the municipal court judge after arrest or citation (under Versions A and C) will terminate if the excluded person is acquitted, if the charges are dismissed, or if no charges are filed. If version A or B of the ordinance is adopted, the council should also direct the City Manager to bring back Attachment D, an ordinance creating the offense of Violation of the Downtown Pubic Safety Zone, for a public hearing in September. Version C incorporates the offense that Attachment D would create. Several speakers at the July 21, 2008, public hearing discussed alternatives or modifications to the proposed ordinance. These alternatives included reliance on municipal court judges to determine that persons found guilty of certain offenses be prohibited from entering some downtown areas for a period of time instead of creating an exclusion ordinance. This option relies on the subject appearing in court, and the judge determining that this is an option he or she wishes to include in the convicted person’s sentence. Another option discussed at the public hearing was exclusion only upon conviction of certain offenses within the downtown public safety zone. (A motion to substitute an ordinance providing for exclusion only upon conviction has been provided in Attachment G). However, a crucial part of the problem the exclusion ordinance is meant to address occurs in the time between arrest or citation and conviction (in some cases as long as 12 months) when offenders are free to return to the downtown area and continue their problem behaviors. In contrast to the proposed ordinance, which provides an effective tool for regulating recurring bad behavior during the time between arrest or citation and conviction, the ordinance providing for exclusion only upon conviction does little to remove individuals exhibiting problem behaviors from the downtown area in a timely manner. Version C of the ordinance Z:\CMO\2008 Council Agendas\M080811\S0808115.doc