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Ms. Bettman, a member of the Police Commission, said that the commission had discussed how to <br />frame the questions to the public, but she did not think the questionnaire did a good job in framing <br />those questions. She suggested using the Community Involved Policing Plan and 1992 long-range <br />plan to create an outline of the strategies identified in the past and solicit public input on those <br />strategies. <br /> <br />Mr. Laue agreed with the remarks of Ms. Nathanson. He said the community's expectations <br />should not be raised unnecessarily, but he did believe the public needed to be educated about <br />community policing and what the needs were in the community. People were more concerned <br />about things such as the traffic traveling through their neighborhoods. He said that it would take a <br />significant commitment of resources to do the types of things that needed to be done, such as the <br />preventative drug treatment mentioned by Mr. Kelly. He did not think the City could ask the <br />citizens to implement a community policing plan until it could do reactive or responsive policing <br />better. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner reiterated that distributing questionnaires only at the commission meetings invited <br />responses only from those with an agenda and a reason to be at the meeting, not the broad public. <br />He urged the commission not to do the questionnaire if that was the approach planned. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner expressed the hope that staff could put price tags on some of the proposals the <br />commission would ask the public to react to. <br /> <br />Ms. Taylor agreed with the remarks of others. She thought starting with a purpose was a good <br />idea, and again endorsed the commission going to neighborhood groups and printing information <br />in neighborhood newsletters. She liked Mr. Meisner's idea of putting a price tag on proposals. <br /> <br />Mr. Denner said that citizens sometimes forget that the City had taken some significant steps <br />toward community policing, and the department had listened to the public and tried to find a way <br />to implement their suggestions. He pointed to the existence of the Police Commission as <br />demonstrative of the department's interest in responding to the public. There were now more ways <br />for community members to speak to police officers and meet with them. Mr. Denner reiterated <br />that the department had made real progress. <br /> <br />Ms. Newbre said community policing was not one specific program, but rather an approach to <br />policing that customized it to the needs of the community. She agreed with Mr. Denner that <br />progress had been made, and there was a great deal occurring in terms of community policing. She <br />also agreed with Mr. Laue that the improvements to be made had a price tag attached. <br /> <br />Mr. Brown summarized the council's input as "let's not set the community up for an expectation <br />we can't meet," and to use the prior plans and studies as the foundation for the commission's work. <br />He expressed appreciation for the council's remarks and continuing support. <br /> <br /> MINUTES--Eugene City Council September 24, 2001 Page 6 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />