Item B: Discussion on Downtown Public Safety Zone

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ECC UGENE ITY OUNCIL AIS GENDA TEM UMMARY Work Session: Discussion Concerning Downtown Public Safety Zone Meeting Date: September 10, 2012 Agenda Item Number: B 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 discuss options for the Downtown Public Safety Zone, which is scheduled to sunset November 30, 2012. BACKGROUND The City Council adopted the Downtown Public Safety Zone (DPSZ) Ordinance No. 20419 in August 2008. Most recently, the City Council extended the ordinance until November 30, 2012. This discussion is intended to provide an opportunity to update the City Council on the status of the use of the tool since the last City Council report in February, to outline possible options moving forward, and to ascertain how the council wishes to proceed. 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 safety in the downtown core. As long as there is inadequate jail bed capacity to meet the demand, the Downtown Public Safety Zone has functioned as a stop-gap measure, to hold offenders accountable, and reduce the number of re- offenders in the downtown core. Other services to support individuals in crisis like CAHOOTS, youth services are also critical to improving safety downtown. Data Available Since the last City Council discussion about the Downtown Public Safety Zone, staff has implemented several measures to improve timely and thorough access to data for all new cases since March. Additionally, staff is working backwards to hand-tabulate this information prior to March 2012. Currently, this additional data is available for all cases from January 2012 through August 15, 2012. S:\CMO\2012 Council Agendas\M120910\S120910B.doc