The Report highlights the use of force, community oversight, and independent investigation and prosecution, released on May 3.
The Ad Hoc Committee on Police Policy, a city body made up of 30 members with representatives from local Eugene groups including the NAACP, Black Unity, Transponder, Eugene Islamic Center and many others started meeting in September of 2020 and held their final meeting on April 30, 2021 to present their Report to Council. The Committee was created through a vote on Eugene City Council, they were charged with the task of looking at police policy in Eugene through the lens of The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing and Campaign Zero’s 10 point plan for policy reform, and presenting those findings to the City Council. Members were paid $15 an hour to make sure there were no financial barriers to participation.
The Report to Council, among other things, acknowledged the racist roots of policing in the United States. “In the south, the development of policing took a different route, evolving into slave patrols, whose primary role was catching runaway slaves and maintaining white supremacy.”
Although Eugene has emphasized police reform in the past with programs like CAHOOTS, which has become nationally recognized as an alternative to policing, the committee would still like to see specific policy changes.
The committee has five policy areas that they want prioritized:
- Use of force
- Hiring and training
- Community oversight
- Body-(Worn) cameras
- Independent investigation and prosecution
The Use of Force Subcommittee is calling for creating a higher bar for justifiable use of force, improving training around the use of force, and allowing the community to select training programs. They also have recommendations for crowd control tactics that could de-escalate instead of leading to the incidents of last summer, such as tear gassing of peaceful protestors. Motion UF-112 states that police should only declare an unlawful assembly if there is criminal activity or clear and present danger of imminent violence.
One motion has recommendations on “Open Carry” firearms. Proposing that Eugene — and at the very least downtown — bans open carry.
“No person or organization in any public space within the city of Eugene city limits shall possess or control any firearm, unless the person or organization holds a valid concealed handgun license, issued by Lane County Sheriff, for the firearm.”
The Hiring and Training Subcommittee recommends improved psychiatric evaluations, enhanced data collection, and plans for dealing with white nationalist organizations. They also recommend that Eugene Police Department engage with marginalized groups, including BIPOC, youth, English language learners and people with disabilities.
A recommendation brought forward by the Community Oversight Subcommittee, states that everything leading up to an event should be considered when investigating police misconduct, specifically whether or not police presence escalated the incident. The Body-Worn Cameras Subcommittee recommends prohibiting the muting and editing of body-worn camera footage.
“Members acknowledged that research indicates that body cameras do not reduce excessive force incidents, but that the existence of camera footage can increase accountability and build confidence in the judicial system.”
The Independent Investigation and Prosecution Subcommittee stated that officers who hold official union positions should not serve on Inter-Agency Deadly Force Teams. They also recommend that an independent civil prosecutor should prosecute cases of police misconduct.
The Committee is asking that the above changes be made at the state level within the year, with considerations of other issues including qualified immunity, crisis response, civil forfeiture, no-knock raids, chokeholds and police unions.
