Ord. 20616 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

safety resources; community members have said there is a need too. A survey of Eugene voters in July 2018 demonstrated that the community strongly supports addressing the City's public safety needs. A vast majority of survey respondents (84%) believe that City officials should take steps to address issues that impact public safety. Follow-up community outreach confirmed the community's very real and growing concern about a delayed, or no, police response due to police resource levels. G. Seeing the immediate, critical need for additional community safety services, in September 2018, the City Council approved spending $8.6 million to add some limited capacity and maintain funding for several critical programs (often referred to as the "bridge funding"). When appropriating the bridge funding, the Council made clear its intent to find a long-term, sustainable funding source for the community safety system. H. Without a new, permanent source of funds, the community safety services funded by the $8.6 million bridge will end, and the gaps in the system will continue to widen. Specifically, response times will keep getting longer, an increasing number of calls will go unanswered, a higher percentage of violations and citations will not make it to the courts, safety concerns in parks, along pathways and in neighborhoods will continue to go unsolved, the little time currently available for proactive policing will dissipate, and fewer opportunities will be available to move homeless community members onto paths of wellness. I. Making some of the systematic changes needed to alter the current trajectory of our safety system will cost an additional $23.6 million per year. The $23.6 million funding need is based on the following package of community safety services: • Police services, including 40 patrol officers, 5 detectives, 4 sergeants, 10 community service officers, 9.5 staff for 911, animal welfare and traffic safety officers, and evidence control and forensic analysts. • Fire and emergency medical services, including the creation of a 911 triage program and field triage/community response unit. • Municipal court and prosecution services, including opening third courtroom, expanding community court and mental health court programs and adding 10 jail beds and increased jail services. • Prevention and homelessness services, including adding emergency shelters, a day center and funding after school programs at Title 1 schools. J. To fund the above-described package of services, the $23.6 million would generally be allocated among the services as follows: 65% for police services; 10% for fire and emergency medical services; 15% for municipal court and prosecution services; and, 10% for prevention and homelessness services. K. By increasing capacity and services with an additional $23.6 million in funding, the community can expect that, as the safety system ramps -up over the next one to five years, the following will occur: • Faster and more responsive police services. • Increased proactive community policing by sworn officers, achieved through the use of Community Response Units and Community Service Officers (CSOs) that can provide public safety support to assist with non -emergency calls like routine crashes and retrieving stolen property. Ordinance - Page 2 of 7