Council addresses crime.

Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard

Eugene city councilors on Monday said the crime problem downtown is intolerable, and they hope to adopt recommendations that could emerge next month to combat everything from public defecation to robbery.

Frustrated with what many call a multifaceted problem, councilors debated the city's balance of providing social services and law enforcement. It was elected officials' first opportunity to discuss the topic together since an anonymous group of citizens called the Eugene Advocates sought to pressure the city to take action with e-mails and photographs of public drunkenness and other crimes in the downtown core.

Despite a range of views, Mayor Kitty Piercy said there appears to be broad council support to consider specific actions, such as more security personnel downtown and stronger restrictions on alcohol consumption.

Between 2007 and 2008, violent crime was up 16.4 percent and property crime up 25.8 percent in Eugene, while the rates in both categories dropped in Portland, Salem and nationwide, according to the state Criminal Justice Commission.

In Eugene, downtown crime runs the gamut from loitering and trespassing to robbery, sex offenses, fights and property crimes, Police Chief Pete Kerns told the council. The city also is vexed by behavior downtown that is legal, such as aggressive panhandling, he added.

"There is a crime problem downtown that is affecting the ability of businesses to be prosperous," said Kerns, who recently helped create a committee to provide suggestions next month on ways to cut into downtown crime.

In Portland, Kerns said, retired police officers are hired as armed officers for private security firms. Such officers file complaints against offenders, which are incorporated with any charges filed later by police, Kerns said.

More security and better regulation of liquor sales, Kerns said, "would probably be helpful" in addressing downtown crime.

But councilors were split over the need to balance money and other resources for law enforcement with taking "softer" steps to prevent crime through social services.

Councilor Mike Clark said the city is spending disproportionately more on social services such as prevention, while the fundamental tool to improve downtown - law enforcement - is short-changed.

Pressed by Clark, Kerns said 10 to 12 additional officers and three supervisors would be needed to do an adequate job of safeguarding downtown. Clark said some social service outlets, such as FOOD for Lane County's free-meal kitchen and a methadone clinic that treats drug addictions, can "create" problems downtown because of the crowds that are drawn to them.

But Councilor George Brown defended such programs as critical to preventing crime and serving basic needs. A methadone clinic "is the place that prevents problems - (clients) are not going to go out and rob and steal," he said. "As far as feeding people, I'd be happy to have (free-meal programs) in every neighborhood if the need was there."

The city last year adopted an ordinance that allows police to temporarily exclude from downtown people who are accused of committing certain crimes. If the person is later convicted of the crime, a judge could ban them from the city center for a year.

Police have used the ordinance "judiciously," Kerns said, but "we haven't come close to excluding (all the) people we're authorized to exclude."

The council also discussed whether a better mix of downtown activities might help draw crowds and discourage illegal and indecent behavior. Councilor Betty Taylor said there are "no problems" during activities such as ArtWalk and the Eugene Celebration.

But Clark said the city needs to do a better job of making all neighborhoods feel welcome and comfortable at downtown events. Some north Eugene residents don't feel downtown "is their downtown," Clark said. "The types of events that are put on, they're not interested in."