Laserfiche WebLink
what it was supposed to do. He also wanted to ensure that they had the appropriate measurements and <br />restrictions in place so that it would not be misused. <br />Mr. dark remarked that the council had discussed the importance of strategic communications. He <br />related that he understood, from talking with officers in the downtown area, that Portland had cracked <br />down last summer and then people had come from Portland to Eugene in response to this. He said as they <br />rolled out the short -term steps, he wanted to see a communications plan so that they let people know that <br />the City was taking the situation seriously and was making a serious effort to reduce crime downtown. <br />Mr. Clark also asked if there were any measurement tools built into it so that they would know what <br />measure of success they would achieve. Chief Kerns replied that the automated behavior crime reporting <br />and cameras coupled with the crime measurement instruments they already had would help measure the <br />success. Ms. Muir added that when staff looked at developing each of the strategies, they had included <br />ideas on how they could start looking at measurements. <br />In response to a follow -up question from Mr. Clark, Chief Kerns stated that establishing an umbrella <br />organization would be the first phase of a many -phase evolution. He said it was there that they would <br />identify -the measurements and how they could collect them. He added that Portland was tracking how <br />many instances of graffiti were reported and when they were cleaned up, litter they picked up including <br />needles, and the number of behavior crimes they saw, among other things. <br />Ms. Ortiz asked if the work crews to clean up downtown could be brought forward, if there were resources <br />for it. Mr. Ruiz responded that there was money in the Council Contingency Fund, but it would be <br />preferable to ensure that they built ongoing funding into the budget for it. <br />Ms. Ortiz expressed an interest to move this to the short -term list. <br />Municipal Court Administrator Jeff Perry stated that they had spoken with Lane County Corrections about <br />the concept of a community service program in the downtown area. He related that they were confident <br />the project could be created quickly. <br />Ms. Ortiz asked if the downtown area had experienced an increase in the level of crimes that would <br />qualify for programs within the Department of Justice, such as the Weed and Seed program. She noted <br />that the Weed and Seed program had been very successful in the Bethel area. Chief Kerns agreed to look <br />into it. <br />Mr. Brown agreed that automated crime reporting was a good idea. In response to questions regarding <br />DEI, Ms. Muir indicated that she would provide a memorandum outlining the cost of the services and who <br />paid what portions of it. <br />Mr. Zelenka asked for more detail regarding how cameras would be deployed; how they would be used <br />and by whom? <br />Mr. Zelenka asked if all of the nine officers that were being requested would be exclusively for the <br />downtown area. Chief Kerns replied that the EPD wanted to draw up a district for them to work in that <br />they felt would address the problems that they wanted to address. He thought the district should be larger <br />than the current Downtown Exclusion Zone. <br />MINUTES Eugene City Council January 27, 2010 Page 7 <br />Work Session <br />