Performance
The Eugene Police Department (EPD) is a progressive, professional law-enforcement agency that serves the city of Eugene, Oregon. Officers and support staff are on duty to respond to calls for service and assist community members 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
In a typical day, Eugene police officers are dispatched to about 275 calls for service (100,000 calls for service each year). This activity creates about 25,000 criminal cases every year. EPD staff members also engage in proactive community education and crime-prevention activities to help protect all of Eugene's residents, with offerings ranging from the annual Prevention Convention program and the Safety Town program for pre-kindergarteners to seminars about crime prevention.
300 – calls for service dispatched each day 25,000 - criminal cases are handled each year 8,000 - people are arrested 12,000 times on 17,000 charges which averages to 60 arrests per officer, nearly twice the national average of 32 arrests per officer.
Budget
The department serves a city of more than 156,000 residents with about 330 employees and a budget of approximately $46,700,000 in FY13. About 190 sworn officers work in patrol, investigations, traffic enforcement and administrative positions, while about 140 civilian employees work mostly in records, communications, crime prevention and administrative support positions.
While the bulk of the work of the Eugene Police Department is undertaken by its full-time paid employees. Both day-to-day operations and special projects are greatly assisted by the numerous area residents who generously donate their time and skills by volunteering in approximately 37 positions.
EPD continues to operate at the highest level of professionalism while participating with other City Departments equally in reducing its operating expenses more than $ 3 million over the past four fiscal years. Cuts were to expenses ranging from take home vehicles, to facility and outside training , membership, and this year employees and unit decreases. Over the same period, new responsibilities and some funding approximately $1.5 million was added for important City programs such as Downtown Team, purchase of a second CAHOOTS van, and to start and operate the Animal Services Unit.
Sometimes important events, both planned and unplanned occur. While they impact our budget and staffing, they are something we respond to with pride and passion.
Two examples:
- For the Olympic Track and Field Trials, EPD dedicated staff and time to planning and providing security and the City and its residents and visitors had the benefit of enjoying an historic national athletic event that brings business to the area.
- Active shooter incidents in communities around the nation heightened local awareness in 2012. EPD provides every sworn officer with active shooter training annually. Additionally, in 2012, EPD worked with local schools to tighten up security, and responded quickly to all reports. At times, as needed, officers and detectives created a comprehensive, noticeable uniformed presence at all 50 area schools.
Continuous Learning and Training
Excellence means continuous improvement and many times it means we need to make changes. We continue to provide our officers with regular updated training and update our policies as we have incidents that highlight ways we can do things better, and when legal opinions are rendered.
Perspectives in Profiling
In 2012, we provided all our officers with Perspectives in Profiling training to address racial profiling proactively. In addition, a new record management system purchased in 2012 and currently being developed will provide EPD with the ability to track demographic data. Chief Pete Kerns was appointed to the Governor’s Law Enforcements Contact Commission
The Eugene Police Department recognizes that racially biased policing, whether actual or perceived, harms the relationship between community and law enforcement agencies. In order to foster relationships within our community, and to protect everyone's right to equal protection of the law the EPD took a proactive approach by becoming the first police agency in Oregon to train its entire police force in the topic of biased based policing. Since 2006, every sworn police officer at EPD, including supervisory and command staff has completed a full day of nationally recognized training. In 2010, EPD took the lead in working in collaboration with several of the Oregon Perspectives on Profiling trainers and CJPRI staff to create a follow-up curriculum for all Oregon law enforcement agencies. This follow up training, “Diversity and Profiling in Contemporary Policing,” was launched on a state-wide level in the fall of 2011. In 2012, EPD provided all its officers with Perspectives in Profiling and is in the process of developing the new records management system, which will enable EPD to collect demographic data related to police contacts. Chief Pete Kerns was appointed to the Governor’s Law Enforcement Contact Commission.
Accreditation of 9-1-1
Central Lane 9-1-1 elected to go through and recently achieved accreditation as an Emergency Medical Dispatch Center of Excellence by International Academies of Emergency Dispatch. It is the highest distinction for comprehensive implementation and compliance with the Medical Priority Dispatch System MPDS and their associated 20 points of excellence. The MPDS is the world’s most widely-used 911-type pre-arrival instruction and dispatch-life support protocol system. With scripted telephone instructions for CPR, airway obstruction relief, hemorrhage control, and childbirth assistance, the MPDS has been credited with helping save thousands of lives. In addition to requiring proper system oversight, medical control and quality improvement programs, accreditation demands careful MPDS compliance and certification for all emergency call-takers and medical dispatchers. The accreditation process is voluntarily, but the accomplishment demonstrates to not only each individual within the communications center, but also to the administration, community and the world, that Central Lane Communications is compliant with all international practice standards for Emergency Medical Dispatch.
We continue to apply rulings from local judicial officials and also from 9th Circuit Court to our policies, practices and training. In 2012, we focused internally on updating our understanding of interception of communications rulings and how that applies to officers working in the field when bystanders or contacts wish to film police activities. We refined our handcuffing techniques during in-service training, and we are standardizing our bias crime reporting with our partners such as Equity and Human Rights Division.
Volunteers Make EPD More Effective
EPD had 92 volunteers contribute 19,957 service hours to the department and community with an added value of $434,876*. Volunteers help EPD maximize existing resources.
Two examples of this for 2012:
Based on requests for service from officers and detectives, the Image Retrieval Team (IRT) contacts local businesses to determine whether surveillance videos of property crimes suspects are available. When videos are available, the volunteers retrieve and lodge them into evidence. Without this service, it is likely that the videos would have been taped over before officers had time to make the retrievals, and crucial evidence needed for solving crimes would have been lost. In 2012, the IRT lodged 78 videos into evidence.
The Bicycle Maintenance and Repair Team, with its six retirees, helps keep EPD’s patrol bikes and equipment in optimal working condition. The volunteers are trained by Eugene Bicycle Works and Hutch’s and can perform routine maintenance and repair of the department’s bicycles, document and report damage to the bicycles, and inventory the bicycles and supplies. This EPD Bike Program is a proven and tested resource for fighting crime and engaging in community policing. There are roughly 50 bicycles in inventory, which are used by various units like the Crowd Control Team, Downtown, Party Patrol and general patrol. In the past, EPD has had to rely on police officers to maintain the bikes after training by local bike shops. This practice was expensive, so the Bicycle Maintenance & Repair Team was created and today the bikes are in better shape than they’ve ever been.
EPD volunteers file police reports and citations, help with traffic calming efforts, serve subpoenas, provide reception at substations, investigate cold cases, locate stolen vehicles, and aid many more types of programs.
* The national average hourly value of volunteer time is developed by the Independent Sector and is currently $21.79
For more information, contact Carrie Chouinard, Volunteers in Policing Program Manager, 541.682.5355, carrie.f.chouinard@ci.eugene.or.us
