Crime in Lane Co: 'Daunting, surprising, disappointing'

Dave Frohnmayer and Jean Tate

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Story Published: Nov 4, 2009 at 9:39 AM PST

By KVAL.com staff

EUGENE, Ore. -- A former Oregon attorney general and a Eugene business leader announced the formation of a citizen committee to review public safety system in Lane County Wednesday morning.

Citizen Advocates for Public Safety (CAPS) is "a grassroots citizens’ committee that will examine all facets of the public safety system in Lane County, draw conclusions and make recommendations."

The co-chairs of the all-volunteer CAPS are:

Jean Tate, a retired business owner and community leader who spearheaded development of the Tate Condominiums on Olive Street; and
Dave Frohnmayer, who served as the state's top cop for a decade before taking the helm as president of the University of Oregon. Since retiring from the UO, Frohnmayer is now "of counsel" to law firm Harrang Long Gary Rudnick in the government department.

"The criminal justice statistics that compare the Lane County experience with that of other counties and cities in Oregon is daunting, surprising, disappointing and certainly not evidence of the quality of life that we normally come to expect but that we cherish in our county," Frohnmayer said.

The committee wants to return a report to the public in less than five months by March 2010.

Public safety in Lane County remains a hot topic, with an anonymous political pressure group Eugene Advocates dogging the mayor and city council by e-mail about crime issues downtown. The city implemented a downtown exclusion zone in an effort to ban frequent troublemakers from downtown.

Other frequent topics include the number of police on the streets in Eugene relative to the crime rate and the availability of jail beds at the Lane County Jail. A lack of space means people accused of crimes are often let go prior to posting bail or facing trial.

"We intend to consider all facets affecting this worsening crime problem," Tate said. "We need to find out why our crime rate continues to increase while it is dropping in other parts of Oregon and the U.S."

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