11/09/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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III. Police Services: Initial Discussion--Memo distributed to Council. e Manager reported this was one of the items targeted by Council at its special work session regarding Council goals. He said Chief Brooks would review the memo which had been distributed and then proceed with a question and answer period. Chief Brooks said the memo submitted to the City Manager concerned possible courses of action the City could take to reduce crime. He had listed the items in order of his priority for programs which Council should consider, noting there could be additional programs developed or added as the year progresses. He then reviewed the memo and various programs: A. Personnel Resources--He noted the Police Department was understaffed in all positions. He said no new programs could be developed or existing programs expanded without an increase in personnel. He said a study of various cities was conducted and the results indi- cated that the Eugene Police Department needed to increase its staff by 23 police officers to gain a reasonable standard of manning. He said one indication of this undermanning was that the most frequent complaint the Police Department received from citizens concerned the length of time it took for a police officer to respond to a ca 11 . He noted there were just enough officers to respond to emer- gency calls. He feared in the event of a major emergency occurring in the Eugene area, the Police Department would be undermanned. e B. Space--He invited Councilors to walk through the Police Department to see the crowded conditions existing. He also noted the Department was understaffed in Records and Communications sections and had no full-time personnel assigned to crime analysis, research and development, and planning. C. Primary Crime Problem--Chief Brooks noted the juvenile involvement in theft and burglary was not unique to Eugene. He indicated he would like to obtain more information and submit to Council for consideration a more sophisticated diversion program for youth and to determine why juvenile crime is such a problem. He noted existence of a youth diversion program at the Lane County level, and indicated he would like to talk to those persons involved to determine whether a major metro area diversion program could be established. D. Communications--He noted the duplication of public safety communi- cation networks and consideration of a system with a workable 911 System. E. Crime Victim Assistance--He intended to request Federal funding early next year for a possible program for victim assistance. He asked for strong Council support of this program. e 11/9/77 --5 833