Item 3: An Ordinance on Downtown Public Safety Zone

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