CC Minutes - 11/23/98 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Emily Golden-Fields, 37 Washington Street, stated that she was a student and community member and was aware of complaints about police behavior. She said she believed there was a need for a Police Commission to provide citizen input and resolve complaints. She said she was aware that such a body in other cities operated successfully. She encouraged student participation in its formation. Byron Stone, 2635 Calgary Street, said that he was concerned that the Police Commission succeed because his family had recently been harassed by police actions. He said he believed a police review board was also needed. Misha Seymour, 1313 Lincoln Street #306, suggested that laws and police actions did not always coincide and that a police external review board was needed. He said he hoped the new City Council would establish such a body. He observed that allegations about unfairness in Eugene were never raised in the past. He suggested that street benches should be provided near the University. He said he favored establishment of a citizen police review board over establishment of a Police Commission. Polly Nelson, Post Office Box 50426, stated that she represented the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon. She said her organization encouraged approval and appointment of a Police Commission. She suggested the commission could be more important than an incident review board because it had been determined that the June 1, 1997, incident had involved no violation of police policies. She said she was concerned that a way be developed to build consensus to change police policies. Elaine Green, 803 Sundance Road, said that she supported the current wording of the proposed ordinance because it was within the spirit of the recommendation of the External Review Advisory Committee and met the needs of the Police Department. She reviewed the work of the committee and said that half of concerns it had received had been about the actions of individual officers and half about police policies. She recommended that the ordinance be adopted because it was good community policing and good public policy. Gordie Albi, 550 East 40th Avenue, stated that he supported the remarks of Elaine Green. He said that during his efforts to pass the ballot measure establishing a citizen police review board he had learned that most citizens felt such a process was already in place. He suggested that a Police Commission could create stimulus for broadening police training and that new realities called for a Police Commission and police review. Martin Champion, 1430 Willamette Street #597, stated that it was important for the council to make clear that the proposed Police Commission was different than the citizen police review board presented to voters. He said he believed the need for policy review was clear and that important dialogue needed to take place between police and the community. He said he hoped the commission would provide a place for interpretation of various police policies. Matthew Rutman, 1648 Alder Street #23, stated that he was a student at the University of Oregon and that he supported establishment of the Police Commission. He described his experience of what he described as police harassment. MINUTES--Eugene City Council November 23, 1998 Page 7 7:30 p.m.