BY ALAN PITTMAN
Cop Shakedown
Crime is falling, but EPD wants lots more officers
E
ugene has falling crime rates and is
one of the safest cities in the nation,
but the EPD says it needs a dramatic
increase in funding.
A consultant hired by EPD reported that
the police need 21 percent more staff to pro-
vide a basic level of police staffing and 57
percent more staff if the city wants proactive
community policing.
Funding the increase, which could cost
roughly $7 million to $18 million a year
based on staffing costs, could cause massive
tax increases or budget cuts for other city
services. By comparison, the city’s entire
Parks Division operates on a $10 million an-
nual budget. The Library Division budget is
also $10 million. The EPD’s current budget is
$42 million a year.
In the last decade Eugene’s violent crime
rate has fallen 62 percent, and its property
crime rate has fallen 27 percent, according to
FBI data. Of 254 U.S. cities with more than
100,000 people, Eugene now ranks 216th in
violent crime rate and 82nd in property crime
rate. Eugene has about the same number of
police officers as Salem, a nearby city of sim-
ilar size with a similar crime rate.
But EPD’s consultant, Magellan Research
Corporation, called Eugene’s police staffing
“completely unsatisfactory.” The Magellan
study, led by a North Texas University associ-
ate professor who is a former police officer,
reported that EPD needs to hire 36 more offi-
cers and 34 more civilian employees for a
basic service level and 126 more officers and
60 more civilians to do community policing.
It’s unclear whether the City Council will
go for the huge police increase. EPD has been
calling for dramatic police increases for more
than a decade and has not gotten them. Last
year the city manager did give the department
a big budget increase to hire five more offi-
cers, two detectives and two civilian support
positions. The manager also included an ad-
ditional administrative police sergeant in next
year’s proposed budget but not the dramatic
staffing increase in the Magellan study.
in paying for campus policing. But the UO is
struggling to pay many of its Ph.D professors
as much as the city pays its high school-grad
cops, and the city has been asking the UO for
more money for four years without results.
A council majority made increasing police
one of its official goals this year. Mayor Piercy
said she’s “very interested in getting on the road
to where we have to be in terms of policing.”
But the council has not discussed how it
will pay for more police, generally through
tax increases or service cuts in other depart-
ments.
Lehner said the council should consider
prioritizing police functions. For example, he
said the city does fairly well staffing its traffic
safety unit and at limiting accidents. Doing
that instead of funding a different police pri-
ority “is a policy choice,” Lehner said.
crime prevention including drug treatment
programs. “It’s not just a conversation that
just putting more police on the street is going
to help.”
Lehner didn’t talk about increasing the
efficiency of the EPD. Magellan called the
EPD “highly efficient,” but didn’t say how it
reached that conclusion.
A study by the Police Executive Research
Forum and International City Management
Association two years ago questioned EPD’s
efficiency in the wake of officer sex scandals.
The PERF/ICMA report noted that EPD ap-
peared to have an adequate number of super-
visory sergeants but failed to supervise its of-
ficers. Trial testimony indicated that while
the EPD claimed it was sorely understaffed,
Eugene officer Roger Magaña was able to
spend a large part of his on-duty time molest-
Funding the increase, which could cost roughly
$7 million to $18 million a year based on staffing
costs, could cause massive tax increases or
budget cuts for other city services.
With the city projecting budget shortfalls
in coming years, it’s unclear whether, when
and how the city would pay for the big police
increase.
Eugene Police Chief Robert Lehner told
the City Council May 29 that he’d like the
UO to help pay for more police. He called the
UO “worse than almost any other university”
Lehner said the city should also consider
the impact of a dramatic EPD increase on the
county courts and jail. Lane County has long
complained that it doesn’t have enough jail
beds and prosecutors to deal with the arrests
EPD already makes.
Councilor Andrea Ortiz argued that the
city needs to have a larger discussion about
ing and harassing women.
The PERF/ICMA study faulted a previous
EPD staffing study for failing to determine
“what the actual need was in terms of person-
nel hours to handle the existing workload,”
and for failing to determine “whether or not
personnel are used as efficiently and effec-
tively as possible.”
ew
Visit Us Soon!
Outdoor
Seating
★
★
Y O D ADDY WANTS SOME P IE !
Now Available!
E Hemp Clothing, Organic Cotton Sox, Beanies &
Eugene’s Friendly Neighborhood Grill
DAILY LUNCH & DINNER SPECIALS
Fine Wine, Beers, Microbrews & Cocktails • We also have Lottery Games!
541-345-1981 Corner of Jefferson & West 19th Ave.
Hours: 11am-9pm Tuesday-Saturday
A Hot Summer
Swimsuit Star ts
with Per fec t Skin
Come in today for your FREE consultation.
Pulsed light treatment rejevenates skin &
repairs sun damage and rosacea
Eugene’s best price, guaranteed*
860 Beltline Rd.
Springfield
541-681-8599
D is for DADDY!
Voted Eugene’s
BEST
Local
Clothing
Store
(3 years in a row, yo!)
Ball Caps, T-shirts, Hoodies and Gifts
for all the RAD DADS in the Land
E New Shipment of MARLEY GEAR is in!
E PIT BULL RESCUE Shirts are in!
100% of sale price goes to LUV-A-BULL rescue.
Check out the available dogs at petfinder.com
Corner of 11th & Willamette ★ Mon-Sat 10-7 / Sun 12-6
“The internet says I can get
the car I want at a price I like,
but the 3 dealers I called
said it’s impossible.” That’s
why I called Oregon Roads.
Order any new or used vehicle from
the agency that delivers. Drive Oregon Roads!
20% OFF *
what are you waiting for? The initial consultation is free!
Reserve your discount today. Call (541) 681-8599
*applies to any purchase in May up to $450 value
6th & Jefferson, Eugene
683-CARS • 800-944-0227
JUNE 14, 2007 13