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<br /> <br />2.Accountability & Consequences: <br />Many of the strategies under consideration by the Task Team include some degree of enhanced <br />police presence in the downtown area to decrease crime and unpleasant behaviors and increase the <br />perception of safety for community members. Some of the proposed strategies include: the <br />establishment and staffing of a downtown public safety station to coordinate bike and foot patrol <br />officers as well as security personnel and crime prevention experts (addressed in the LCC <br />Downtown Center project description); expanding the number of downtown patrol officers, <br />especially during night-time hours; extending the authority for citations and/or complaints to <br />security personnel; and researching the possibility of creating downtown work crews sentenced in <br />Municipal Court to work in the downtown area. <br /> <br /> <br />3.Physical Space & Environment: <br />Strategies for the physical space and environment theme area include improvements to lighting and <br />the addition of seasonal lights at other times of the year; improved cleanliness such as more <br />frequent power washing of streets, increased litter and waste pick-up as well as bio-hazard <br />removal; resolving the public restroom debates; and the establishment of a arts and entertainment <br />district to increase activities in the area (addressed in the Arts & Entertainment District project <br />description). <br /> <br /> <br />4.Illegal & Unpleasant Behaviors: <br />Strategies under consideration to address illegal and unpleasant behavior include more parole and <br />probation officers downtown and the use of more safety-zone exclusions; housing answers for <br />chronic offenders, especially people with mental illness and/or alcoholism; coordinated efforts to <br />increase jail space options; crime reduction focused on chronic offenders; reducing the number of <br />people supporting panhandlers; and programs to encourage people on the street to respect their own <br />community and change negative behaviors. <br /> <br />HOW & WHEN <br />The Downtown Safety Task Team will hold a final meeting on December 16, 2009. Staff will refine <br />the strategies, adding cost estimates and alternative funding possibilities. Finalized strategies will be <br />forwarded to the executive managers for their consideration. The executive managers should receive <br />the finalized strategy recommendations by the first part of January. The executive managers will then <br />consider these strategies in the FY11 budget process and will determine a process to provide City <br />Council with the results of the Task Team’s work. <br /> <br />RELATED POLICIES/GOALS <br />Downtown safety is supported by past public involvement and policy documents including several of <br />the Council’s 2009 vision and goals on Neighborhood Empowerment, Arts and Outdoors, and <br />initiatives concerning Police, Homelessness, Downtown, and Sustainability. Public safety strategies <br />are supported by the Downtown Plan, Central Area Transportation Studies, JEO Regional Economic <br />Development Principles, and Growth Management Policies. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />