Item 3: An Ordinance on Downtown Public Safety Zone

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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, our 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 such as 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. Eugene has adequate laws governing behavior, and increased funding for the downtown bicycle team has strengthened the Police Department’s ability to provide enforcement and other services in the city’s downtown core. However, with Lane County’s critical jail bed capacity issues (down this last July from 280 to 196 beds and likely to decrease further in FY13), the Eugene community lacks adequate consequences to hold offenders accountable and to reduce recidivism. Page 9 of 17