In Eugene, there are about 300 calls dispatched daily by Eugene’s approximate 157,986 residents. The total number of sworn in officers to respond to work patrol, investigate, enforce traffic and perform administrative work is 190.
“Oregon officers per 1,000 population are lower than national average. Lane County Corrections and district attorney staffing is abnormally low for a county our size. This has an impact on policing in terms of what types of crimes will get prosecuted and result in jail time,” Melinda McLaughlin of the Eugene Police Department said.
The EPD received a budget of approximately $46.7 million for the 2013 fiscal year. In addition to the 190 officers, the department houses 140 civilian employees who perform work in records, communications, crime prevention and administration support. The EPD has approximately 37 volunteers. Twenty-five thousand cases are handled in Eugene each year.
According to McLaughlin, previous studies documented low ratio officers per thousand in Eugene. This in turn, results in fewer officers on the street, lower response times, the prioritizing and limiting calls which officers respond to as well as the department’s ability to adjust to things like neighborhood needs and crime trends.
“With annual reductions to the city budget projected for the next two years, the department does not have the ability to address the shortage of officers,” McLaughlin said.
Compared to other cities in Oregon, EPD does not appear that far behind. Salem’s population of approximately 157,429 has 187 sworn in officers, 116 civilian employees and a budget of about $36 million.
The Portland Police Department, who serves about 603,106 people, has 986 sworn officers, 226 civilian employees and a budget of $165.4 million as of 2013.
The University of Oregon Police Department serves the main UO campus in Eugene, UO Portland and the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology in Charleston. The UOPD has 18 sworn officers, including supervisors and command staff, 10 public officers, six security officers and managers, and 18 civilian employees. The approved budget for the current fiscal year is $5.6 million. The budget includes the $1.2 million the UOPD provides to the Parking and Transportation Department.
“We work very closely with the Eugene Police,” Communications Director and Public Information Officer Kelly McIver said. “Our presence means they don’t have to come up here and deal with things as much as they would otherwise.”
According to McIver, the UOPD is able to investigate smaller occurrences, such as arrestee transportation and minor crimes like theft, that the EPD normally wouldn’t be able to address due to bigger cases. UOPD also has the ability to treat occurrences like minor in possession as educational opportunities and, on first offenses, have the ability to write the students up to the Department of Student Conduct and Dean of Students.
According to the UOPD’s website, “While UOPD works with Eugene Police and other agencies to prevent and solve crime, UOPD exists to serve students and campus community members, and can prioritize issues important to the campus community.”