CC Minutes - 01/23/06 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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3.PUBLIC HEARING: An Ordinance Concerning Used Merchandise Dealers, and Amending Sections 4.989 and 4.990 of the Eugene Code, 1971 City Manager Taylor asked Police Captain Elvia Williams to speak on the ordinance. Capt. Williams stated that the system currently in use was time-consuming. She reported that staff sent out for proposals for an electric system. After selecting a system, the department tested it in shops as a pilot project and found it saved time and enabled the department to return more stolen goods faster. She requested that the City Council approve the ordinance change. Mayor Piercy opened the public hearing. Tim Laue , 124 Spencer Creek Drive, spoke on behalf of the Police Commission. He stated that the commission had first been made aware of the pilot program in 2002. He said the ordinance would move the pilot program to permanent status. The Police Commission supported the change and urged the City Council to act affirmatively. He averred that this kind of innovation represented good government. He said it was efficient, addressed a real need, and freed up valuable resources to allow the performance of higher level investigative functions to help combat the dramatic increase in property crimes currently being experienced in all of Lane County. He declared the program to be cost-effective. He stated that it improved the ability of local police agencies to gather the type of information that could lead to the return of stolen property in the community. Star Wood , 2709 Willamette Street, explained that she and her husband were owner-operators of a buy-sell shop in south Eugene. She reported that they used the system for the last three years and were familiar with how it worked and its software. She said, though they had been technological neophytes, they found the system, the software, and the support from the staff to be outstanding. She declared it was easy to use. She felt it would pay for itself in the store’s ability to focus on the property they really did not want. She predicted it would continue to pay for itself. She thanked the council for taking a leadership role in addressing the implementation of the system. David Nelkin , 2472 Willamette Street, owner of Eugene Coin & Jewelry, in business on Willamette Street for 26 years, favored any ordinance that helped the police recover stolen property faster, prosecuted more criminals, and made second-hand dealers a partner in this effort. His concern lay in the funding of the cost of the program, an inherent lack of future limits on cost, and the sharing of proprietary business information. He said at the moment he used a paper system that was entirely free to him. He felt that instead of paying $300 or $400 per year to use the software, the City should provide the software gratis. He thought the trade-off of police time to collect the paper tickets for the time to do “real police work and catch criminals” warranted this. He noted that the City of Medford engaged in a similar system and supplied the software for free. He asked who would pay for the computer to use the software. He objected to the sharing of certain proprietary information, specifically how much he paid for items, unless the items were known to be stolen. He felt the City needed a system to reimburse dealers in their “helpful efforts.” He proposed that the City start a fund and mandate a fixed amount be charged per transaction to provide immediate reimbursement to dealers that were sold something stolen. He commented that at present, buying something stolen made the dealers another victim of the crime. He noted that restitution only came upon conviction of the criminal and whether they paid. In his experience this never happened. MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 23, 2006 Page 6 Regular Session