CC Minutes - 11/10/08 Work Session

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been arrested within Eugene for criminal misconduct. She said arrests for Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants (DUII) are the most common type of such arrests. She explained that under the Police Operations Manual (POM) officers were expected to obey all laws at all times. She noted that the most recent use of deadly force case had been reported exactly as it was supposed to be and she had been contacted accordingly. Ms. Reynolds related that there had been 241 calls for service on Halloween, more than double the amount from the previous year. She said of those calls only one had resulted in a complaint. Ms. Reynolds stated that transparency was the main issue and the CRB was an important component of this. She noted that the members would typically spend eight or nine hours preparing for their meetings and reviewing case information. She added that she had been very happy about the support the voters had indicated for the charter amendment. She stated that they enjoyed a good working relationship with police leadership at this point and she felt optimistic. She said she and Chief Kerns were mutually committed to making the system work. Ms. Reynolds said the CRB would be reviewing the charter, the ordinances, and the protocols, but not any cases, for its November meeting to see what they needed to do to make the system more effective. She noted that they had seen improvements in Internal Affairs (IA) investigations. The Board felt that questions asked in investigations were sometimes leading in nature and had given that input. She believed they were “well on their way” to meeting the goal of building trust. Mayor Piercy thanked the CRB for their work. She also acknowledged the good job the Eugene Police Department (EPD) had done on Halloween. She felt it had been a positive event. Ms. Ortiz thanked Ms. Reynolds and the CRB members for coming to the council work session. She related that there had been a homicide in her neighborhood involving a Latino victim. She said Chief Kerns had gone out of his way to reach out to the communities of color. He had come to the neighborhood to answer questions and this had meant a lot. Mr. Clark thanked Ms. Reynolds and the CRB. He said he appreciated all of the work they did. He expressed concern about the application of community values in regard to the use of force. He wanted to understand what the community values were and how they would be appropriately applied. He asked if investigating how they could “put a better finger on the pulse of community values” was part of the planning for the future. Ms. Reynolds responded that included in the council packets was an attitude and perception survey they were developing, with the assistance of David Murphy, a professor of criminal justice. She said they had discussed the form with Capt. Steve Swenson. She was confident they would be doing more to define community values. Mr. Clark understood that the purpose of the civilian oversight system included the reestablishment of trust but he had not seen that concept in the slide presentation. Ms. Reynolds replied that the oversight systems were built on the idea that those who had power needed some type of accountability and the trust the community had was earned. She said the public was looking for oversight and this was a two-way street. She was also working to improve the trust of the EPD so they would know that the oversight system was not biased against them. MINUTES—Eugene City Council November 10, 2008 Page 4 Work Session