CC Minutes - 10/26/09 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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community panel used to review the CRB applications seemed like it “was practically in secret.” She understood that it was not really secret, but she averred that “it might as well be when nobody knows anything about it.” She wanted them to conduct the review more publicly and transparently in the future. She said she had submitted a public records request for copies of the deliberations. She noted that one person who had served on the panel was a member of the EPD Internal Affairs (IA) division. She opined that this represented a conflict of interest, because people such as Mr. Brissenden and Ms. Wilkinson had been critical of IA. She suggested that someone other than the IA employee and, perhaps, not a representative of EPD should serve on the community panel. Michael L. Quillen , 2735 Kismet Way, Ward 8, was very concerned by the “rapid use” of tasers by the EPD. He said following the community impact case and in light of the two recent cases of tasering, he would urge the council to adopt a moratorium on taser use without a reasonable belief that a deadly weapon was present. He declared that arms and feet were not weapons and police should be trained to deal with citizens; more confrontation was not needed. He asked them to imagine that it was their son or daughter who had been tasered and taken to jail. He asked them to imagine how they would feel. He cited the recent incident in which two foreign students had been tasered. He averred that this was not the image that the City would want to present to the rest of the world. He asked the council to “clean up” the taser issue. He urged the council to reappoint Mr. Brissenden and Ms. Wilkinson to the CRB. He opined that any other outcome of the decision would amount “to cherry-picking pro-police members of the CRB” and this was not what external oversight was. He felt that the signal that was being sent to the community was that it was the police who were running the CRB. Randy Prince , 2990 Onyx Street, supported the reappointment of Mr. Brissenden to the CRB. He felt that some people did not think Mr. Brissenden was nice enough. He had seen the interviews and noted that Mr. Brissenden had not smiled much. He averred that Mr. Brissenden was forthright and had provoked some people. He understood that a majority of the council did not intend to reappoint him. He opined that a couple of the councilors who were identified as liberal did not want someone “who pushed too hard.” He did not think this was the right approach. He asserted that inside the EPD there was a feeling of besiegement that was due to the negative public opinion after the Magaña/Lara incident in which officers were ultimately charged as criminals and sent to jail. He believed the police pushed back against the council and against the Chief of Police. He commented that he would be outraged but it “was not that out of character for police” because police were trained to show force when faced with force. He declared that it would “be a real negative” if the council responded “to pressure” from the officers “by caving in” and appointing CRB members that tried not to “hurt the cops’ feelings.” He thought they needed an objective, credible CRB that upheld discipline. He felt that Mr. Brissenden was the most knowledgeable and experienced member. He wanted both Mr. Brissenden and Ms. Wilkinson to be reappointed. He predicted that the situation with tasers would be exacerbated because some felt that tasers were just an alternative to the billy club and pepper spray, meaning that more cases would come before the CRB. th Howard Bonnett , 1835 East 28 Avenue, Councilor Zelenka’s ward, said he had come before the council because he had been feeling badly. He had served on the advisory committee for the appointment of the CRB for three out of the four times the committee had been convened. He believed that the make-up of the CRB had changed. He expressed disappointment in his performance during the last convening of the committee. He had felt that the best applicant for the initial board appointment was a man who had been appointed. He believed he had demonstrated the most thorough knowledge and understanding of what the CRB was charged with and how it should function. He underscored that this was what he looked for in any applicant. He had tried to apply that rule without respect to whether an applicant held conservative or liberal viewpoints. He felt that he had allowed himself to be deluded in the MINUTES—Eugene City Council October 26, 2009 Page 5 Regular Meeting