Item 4: Ordinance on Downtown Public Safety Zone

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ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Action: An Ordinance Concerning Downtown Public Safety Zone; Amending Section 4.874 of the Eugene Code, 1971; and Providing a Sunset Date Meeting Date: February 27, 2012 Agenda Item Number: 4 Department: Eugene Police Staff Contact: Pete Kerns, Chief of Police www.eugene-or.gov Contact Telephone Number: 541-682-5102 ISSUE STATEMENT The Downtown Public Safety Zone will expire April 30, 2012, unless the City Council votes to extend it. Public comments have been received at a Police Commission Public Forum in December 2011, and at a City Council Public Hearing in February 2012. The City Council discussed the Downtown Public Safety Zone at a work session in January 2012. An ordinance is to be considered that will extend the Downtown Public Safety Zone until 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 to the council that the DPSZ be extended with several modifications based on the community input. 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 12 recommendations to 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 criminal activity occurring downtown. Part of the 12-point plan included the DPSZ, a civil exclusion process to help mitigate the lack of jail sanctions, by preventing chronic offenders from remaining downtown and continuing to commit crime. To provide the City Council with additional community perspective and comments, the City’s Police Commission held a public forum on December 15, 2011. The Police Commission discussed the input received at the Forum at its meeting in January 2012, and voted to recommend to the City Council that the Downtown Public Safety Zone be continued and that the sunset provision be eliminated. The recommendation was approved by a 9-1 vote, with two members absent. 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- S:\CMO\2012 Council Agendas\M120227\S1202274.doc