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<br /> <br /> <br />ECC <br />UGENE ITY OUNCIL <br /> <br />AIS <br />GENDA TEM UMMARY <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Public Hearing: An Ordinance Concerning Downtown Public Safety Zone; Amending <br />Section 4.874 of the Eugene Code, 1971; and Providing a Sunset Date <br /> <br /> <br />Meeting Date: February 21, 2012 Agenda Item Number: 3 <br />Department: Eugene Police Staff Contact: Pete Kerns, Chief of Police <br />www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 541-682-5102 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />ISSUE STATEMENT <br /> <br />This is an opportunity for the City Council to solicit community feedback on a proposal to extend the <br />sunset date for the Downtown Public Safety Zone to April 30, 2014. <br /> <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />The City Council adopted the Downtown Public Safety Zone (DPSZ) Ordinance No. 20419 in August <br />2008. The original ordinance established a sunset date of August 2010, and required that the City’s <br />Police Commission hold a public forum and make recommendations related to the ordinance. That <br />forum was held, and the Police Commission recommended that the DPSZ be continued and proposed <br />several modifications based on the community input received, which were considered by the City <br />Council. In December 2010, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 20467, which extended the sunset <br />date to April 30, 2012, and also made amendments to other provisions of the original ordinance. <br /> <br />In December 2009, the Downtown Safety Task Team prepared a list of recommendations they believed <br />would improve downtown safety and make the downtown a more welcoming place. Subsequently, the <br />12-Point Downtown Safety Improvement Plan was adopted by the City Council in January 2010. <br />Inherent in the recommendation was the understanding that the lack of jail beds as a sanction remains a <br />critical component to the persistent problems occurring downtown. The civil exclusion process is a tool <br />to offset the lack of jail sanctions, to create an alternative to incarceration for chronic violators, and to <br />improve the perception of safety in the downtown core. <br /> <br />As long as there is inadequate jail bed capacity to meet the demand, the Downtown Public Safety Zone <br />functions as a necessary stop-gap measure, to hold offenders accountable, and reduce the number of re- <br />offenders in the downtown core. To address public safety, the community must have at minimum three <br />equally important functions. First, there must be appropriate rules and laws to govern behavior. Second, <br />there must be an enforcement emphasis to cite offenders. Last, there must be adequate consequences to <br />hold offenders accountable for their actions. Other services to support individuals in crisis like <br />CAHOOTS, youth services, and, perhaps, what is produced by the Mayor’s recently formed task group <br />on homelessness, will also be critical to improving safety downtown. <br /> <br />Regardless, these three components are critical. Eugene has adequate laws governing behavior, and <br />increased funding for downtown enforcement has strengthened the Police Department’s ability to <br /> S:\CMO\2012 Council Agendas\M120221\S1202213.doc <br /> <br />