Sorenson said if the police
leadership won’t take
responsibility and assume
a strong and active role
in improving relationships
with the community, the
community ‘will continue
to take power away from
police.’
“I expect law enforcement to protect
citizens from harm and treat all citizens with
respect, regardless of their background, social
or economic status in our community or any
other personal attribute or distinction,” said
Merwin.
Speakers in addition to Merwin included
Samantha Chirillo, co-director of Cascadia’s
Ecosystem Advocates; DJ Depew of the
Oregon Family Support Network Board;
Talia, Lotus Blossom and Nathan from the
Lane County Youth Action Board; and Sharla
Gilliam of the Network Charter School.
Assistant Police Auditor Dawn Reynolds
also spoke, along with Davis’ Restaurant co-
owner Tom Kamis.
Kamis, a longtime downtown resident,
said he has never had a problem with the
EPD and considers downtown safe. He lived
in Detroit as a youth. “I’ve seen bad, and this
doesn’t seem so bad,” he said.
Reynolds, an attorney who’s only been on
the auditor’s staff for fi ve weeks, said she is
already seeing a lot of complaints from youth
and people who are homeless. She said she
recognizes the diffi cult and dangerous work
done by the EPD, but added, “we expect
our police offi cers to protect and serve
the community … I’m here to ensure that
everyone is treated fairly.”
Reynolds urged the young people who
believe they have been mistreated by the
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police to fi le complaints with the auditor.
Stories told at the forum included a gay-
bashing incident downtown in which the
perpetrator was not charged with a hate crime
and the victim was lectured by an EPD offi cer
for being “too fl amboyant.” Others told tales
of retaliation and harassment, excessive and
petty ticket-writing and a general lack of
compassion and empathy by EPD offi cers.
Friday’s City Club program featured civil
and human rights activists Carmen Urbina and
Charles Dalton and County Commissioner
Pete Sorenson.
“We give the cops the right to use violence
and even kill in our name,” said Dalton, “and
that involves a huge degree of trust.” Dalton
said he recognizes the diffi cult and important
job done by police and would even support
increasing their staff by 20 percent if he
were “certain they are all committed to equal
protection under the law.” But he said he’s
frustrated by a lack of transparency.
He’s accustomed to two answers when he
questions the EPD about an incident: First,
“We can’t tell you anything because it’s under
investigation,” and later, “We can’t tell you
anything because it’s a personnel matter.”
Dalton said he is a strong proponent of
community policing in which offi cers spend
more time connecting with the people on their
beats and less time in squad cars responding
to emergencies. It’s an expensive model, he
said, but some steps EPD is taking in that
direction are satellite stations and offi cers on
bicycles.
Dalton also called for more cooperation
and communication on both sides. “We need
the police and the police need us,” he said.
“They cannot do their job without our trust
and our tax dollars, and that’s why we need
to keep the dialogue open.”
Urbina has been tracking racial profi ling
and other civil rights issues involving the
EPD for a dozen years and said she is
concerned about whether the EPD is living
up to its stated mission as a “progressive,
professional policing organization that
combines community policing strategies with
an enforcement philosophy to better serve
the more than 140,000 residents of Eugene,
Oregon.”
Urbina said mutual trust and respect are
the key issues in the relationship between
police and the residents. “But do the cops see
themselves as part of the community?” she
asked.
The solution, said Urbina, lies in whether
“we have the political will and leadership
to improve community-police relations. …
We’ve been down this road multiple times
before.”
Sorenson said it was “disturbing” that
federal Homeland Security offi cers were
involved in recent local demonstrations,
“operating independently of any local or state
authority.”
Sorenson said if the police leadership
won’t take responsibility and assume a strong
and active role in improving relationships
with the community, the community “will
continue to take power away from police.”
He was referring to the voters approving
an independent police auditor and Civilian
Review Board to watch over the police. ew
ING
W
hat do Eugeneans think about
their cops? Do people feel
safe in their homes and on the
streets? What can citizens do to improve
relations with police offi cers? And what can
the Eugene Police Department (EPD) itself
do to mend damaged relations?
Two public gatherings in two days last
week focused on public safety in Eugene and
asked these basic questions.
The Brewhaha forum sponsored by the Bus
Project and Eugene Weekly June 26 and the
City Club of Eugene luncheon June 27 were
in response to the latest string of controversies
involving Eugene police: the use of Tasers on
a demonstrator, federal agents involved in
local demonstrations, hateful messages from
police union leadership, a legal attack on the
new independent police auditor and ongoing
accusations of police discrimination and
harassment.
“I don’t feel safe regarding the police
and DA who are the very people with whom
we place our public trust,” said broadcast
journalist Amy Pincus Merwin at Brewhaha.
“I don’t feel safe because I have personally
witnessed police use of excessive force
and have been a focus of police and DA
harassment.”
IF Y
Two gatherings examine the role of police
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EUGENE WEEKLY JULY 3, 2008 13