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Mr. Meisner indicated his concurrence with the remarks of Ms. Nathanson regarding the need for <br />response to quality of life problems. <br /> <br />Speaking to Mr. Laue, Mr. Meisner endorsed Ms. Nathanson's suggestion. He did not think that <br />there was an absolute, unchanging definition of community policing. <br /> <br />Mr. Meisner said that the public perception of the police had changed over time, and there was <br />no sense of community connection with the police as fellow members of the community. He felt <br />overcoming that was at the head of community policing. He said he did not care if police were at <br />every neighborhood meeting. He wanted them to be in the neighborhoods meeting the <br />neighbors. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly thanked the commissioners for their willingness to serve. He believed the slip in the <br />commission's schedule was both understandable and unfortunate because "time marches on <br />and incidents happen." <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly said that the commission was not an incident review body, but incidents informed policy <br />discussions. He suggested that if the commission did not look at incidents, it would have <br />academic discussions that had no connection to the real world. <br /> <br />Mr. Kelly said that he had spoken with Chief Jim Hill about the police's role in protests. He said <br />that it was different from other police work because of the tradition of protest in America. He <br />thought it important the commission considered policies through that filter. He suggested the use <br />of force policy might be a place to differentiate between protests and nonprotests because of the <br />political and democratic undercurrents of the issue. <br /> <br />Mr. Rayor thanked the commission for its work. He suggested that the commission was another <br />way for the public to offer the City comment. He considered the commission an element of <br />community policing. <br /> <br />Mr. Rayor believed the commission had a role in evaluating the success of various City <br />ordinances, such as the special response fee ordinance. <br /> <br />Mr. Rayor asked how the communities that have been sensitized to the police could be <br />encouraged to talk to the council and commission. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey said that everyone had an opinion about what community policing was, and he <br />appreciated that Mr. Laue included after-school programs in the definition. He said that the lack <br />of police response to simple livability issues like vandalism and car clouts was also of concern to <br />him. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey wanted to know what the public expected and wanted in terms of service, and <br />suggested the commission conduct a gap analysis of the service system and the gaps in that <br />system. <br /> <br />Mayor Torrey suggested a definition of community policing would be helpful to avoid the <br />impression the City was chasing a moving target. <br /> <br />Dr. Katul appreciated Mr. Kelly's comments about the use of incidents to inform the commission <br />in its decision making. He said the commission was sensitive to what happened in the <br /> <br />MINUTES--Eugene City Council December 11, 2000 Page 3 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br /> <br />