09/28/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . Mr. Delay said it appeared the recent actions by the Police Department had resulted in a very professional operation of cleaning up the problem without harassment, entrapment, and other traditional problems. He wondered if the last operation that was executed was not sufficient and asked Chief Brooks' feeling if it was necessary to move in this direction with the new ordinance. Chief Brooks replied the ordinance would make operations easier, more efficient, and more effective. He said operations similar to the last one would become more and more expensive. Under the . new ordinance, the Police Department could have prevented the operation from going to the level it had. He continued that since the last operation, the problem seems to be well cleaned up, with the exception of one 17-year old. He said under the new ordinance it would be possible to check this one female for loitering. Assistant Manager noted staff did not feel Police Department employees should have to act as decoys on the streets to solve this problem. Mr. Long said an evidentiary problem existed wherein attempts to prosecute under the present ordinance makes necessary the use of decoys to get at the customers; the new ordi nance woul d make it easier to prosecute customers who loiter for the purpose of finding prostitutes. In response to a question from Mr. lieuallen, Chief Brooks said this approach had been used successfully in Portland. Also, he felt the problem had dramatically decreased since last fall. Mr. lieuallen then expressed a concern that the new ordinance might allow police officers to harass certain elements of the community, i.e, blacks. He continued he would feel more comfortable in making a decision if he had more time to study the new ordinance. e Mr. Bradley wondered if the problem were cleared out of downtown Eugene, whether it would emerge some place else. Chief Brooks said he did not know but his opinion was that for all practical purposes, the problem had been reduced to zero. He noted his real concern was regarding the after- effects of prostitution involving more serious crimes. He hoped the problem had been completely cleared out of Eugene and said the Police Department was able to be effective because it acted before prostitution had become a more serious problem. Mr. Bradley then wondered if any consideration had been given to providing resources for different life styles for the prostitutes involved. Chief Brooks replied that was out of the hands of the Police Department but he felt there were some agencies in Eugene which could assist. Mr. Bradley then wondered if the Section 2 had been referred to the ACLU, and wondered if Council wished to make such a referral. Chief Brooks said he felt AClU was probably aware of the ordinance. Mr. Bradley then expressed his philosophy of being opposed to the ordinance because of the restrictiveness on a person's liberty and freedom. He wondered if instead of arresting, whether the Police Department could use its misdemeanor citation to cite them into court. Chief Brooks replied he would have no objections; in fact, that had been used on a number of occasions already. However, he would like that left to the arresting officer's discretion. e 9/28/77--5 7'+1