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problem and if the department had considered recruiting from Eugene or requiring officers who were hired <br />to move to Eugene. Chief Lehner said that had not been considered in the course of developing the plan. <br />He said he had not seen a problem he considered to be associated with residency of officers. He said that <br />residency issues in general were very problematic for police departments - economically and demographi- <br />cally - and raised very significant issues for public employers. He did not believe there would be an <br />adequate applicant pool if hiring was restricted to the City. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor suggested it might make a difference in organizational culture and officers' involvement in the <br />community if they were required to live in Eugene, particularly with community policing. Chief Lehner <br />replied that could be true in concept but based on his experience most police officers, in Eugene and other <br />communities, did not live in the areas in which they patrolled. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor asked if the department did not pay enough for officers to move to Eugene. Ms. Towle replied <br />that many police recruits, particularly experienced officers, moved because of the large surrounding area <br />and many department employees lived outside of the cities. She noted that residency requirements were <br />fairly unique and would likely have to be bargained. She speculated that a residency requirement could be <br />a deterrent to recruitment efforts. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor related that she had recently attended a kindergarten graduation where many of the youngsters <br />expressed a desire to be a police officer. Chief Lehner commented that a comprehensive recruitment <br />philosophy also included recruiting parents to encourage their children to consider law enforcement <br />careers. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap6 concurred with previous comments regarding the Hobson Report and encouraged a new strategic <br />examination of the department. He noted that the plan did not address the conflict between the Police <br />Department and Human Resource and Risk Services in terms of recruitment, hiring and discipline that was <br />raised in the ICMA-PERF report. Chief Lerner replied that in the areas of recruitment and hiring Human <br />Resource was an active partner. He said some of the conflict may have occurred because procedures were <br />not as formalized as they could have been and that would be addressed during accreditation as formalized, <br />maintained and updated procedures were required. He felt the problem identified in the report was a <br />system issue that would be resolved when procedures were formalized; that was also true with respect to <br />discipline procedures. <br /> <br />Mr. Pap6 asked who should make hiring decisions with regard to police personnel. Chief Lehner replied <br />that technically the city manager made that decision and the manager had delegated that decision to the <br />police chief. He said he would not delegate that decision to anyone as he was ultimately accountable to <br />the community for hiring decisions. City Manager Taylor said the Police Department was an organization <br />that was part of the City system and human resource professionals were engaged to provide assistance in <br />recruitment and selection, validating procedures, ensuring that collective bargaining and discipline were <br />within State law and labor contracts. He pointed out that while there was shared responsibility, the <br />ultimate responsibility rested with the city manager. Human Resource and Risk Services Executive <br />Director Lauren Chouinard added that a certain amount of tension between Human Resource and the rest <br />of the organization was inherent in the relationship because the human resource function was focused on <br />making sure the organization followed all policies and procedures. He agreed with Chief Lehner that part <br />of the problem was a systems issue, but it also reflected the normal dynamic tension between line <br />operations and central service functions that were more regulatory in nature. <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council June 22, 2005 Page 6 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />