Laserfiche WebLink
vehicle pursuit and looked forward to the Police Commission's discussion of that. She wondered what <br />authority Eugene had to diffuse situations that started in other jurisdictions. Mr. Gissiner said that about <br />300 people were killed annually in the United States because of police pursuits and one -third of those <br />killed were innocent bystanders, so he was quite concerned about the issue. There were about 19 pursuits <br />this year and he was examining each one. Ms. Ortiz was happy to hear that. Mr. Gissiner noted that the <br />department was also doing more training in vehicle pursuits. <br />Police Chief Pete Kerns said it was the department's policy to terminate pursuits at the direction of <br />supervisors. He said that supervisors had a good record of doing so. He reported that recently, the patrol <br />captains had asked the Emergency Vehicles Operations Supervisor to review pursuits. Such incidents <br />were getting a more critical examination, and as a consequence, the threshold for continuing a pursuit had <br />gone up for both officers and supervisors. Officers were informed during the September training that the <br />department would not pursue vehicles in the absence of a very good reason to do so. Officers were less <br />inclined to enter into such pursuits as a result. Ms. Ortiz thanked Chief Kerns for that change. <br />Mayor Piercy suggested that Chief Kerns' remarks illustrated how the independent auditor process was <br />supposed to work. <br />Mr. Pryor expressed appreciation for the briefing and the job Mr. Gissiner did in keeping the council <br />informed. <br />Mr. Pryor referred to the summary of 63 reported allegations against the department and asked how many <br />contacts the police had with the community in the ten -month period covered by the summary. Manage- <br />ment Analyst Linda Phelps estimated the department had 90,000 and 100,000 contacts with the public <br />over that period. Mr. Pryor observed that 63 was a relatively small number in light of that number of <br />contacts, and he pointed out that many had been unfounded or found to be within policy. He acknowl- <br />edged the goal was for no allegations at all, and believed the City was making progress that moved it in <br />the right direction, and he did not want to lose sight of that fact. <br />Mr. Clark expressed appreciation for the Police Auditor system. He appreciated the manner in which the <br />auditor and Civilian Review Board identified policy issues for the Police Commission to examine. He <br />believed the result would be much - improved policies. <br />Mr. Clark asked if the Police Auditor accepted e- mailed and telephoned complaints. Mr. Gissiner said <br />yes. <br />Mr. Clark determined from Mr. Gissiner that he had not received any complaints about the City's <br />Downtown Public Safety Zone (DPSZ). <br />Mr. Poling said it appeared Mr. Gissiner was doing something right. The program had started out with <br />controversy but that was now gone. He found it interesting to look at the statistics, pointing out that <br />during the same period the department received 63 allegations of misconduct, it had received 101 recorded <br />commendations, which he thought spoke louder than the 63 allegations. He wished the public could see <br />the commendations and suggested they be posted on the City's Web site. He was glad people took the <br />time to recognize the officers for the positive actions they took. <br />Mr. Brown asked Mr. Gissiner questions to clarify the hiring process for the Deputy Police Auditor <br />position. Mr. Gissiner indicated that background checks were being done on two finalists. <br />MINUTES— Eugene City Council October 25, 2010 Page 4 <br />Work Session <br />