Is the downtown exclusion zone working?
EUGENE, Ore. -- Criminals, often exiting the the under-funded Lane County jail on the same day they were arrested, were committing the same crimes in downtown Eugene over and over again.
So Eugene city councilors passed the exclusion zone ordinance, allowing people who are arrested for certain crimes to be banned from a 20-square block radius in downtown.
It spans from 7th Avenue to 11th Avenue, Pearl Street to Lincoln Street. The zone also extends to Lawrence Street between 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue. The Lane County Courthouse is not included. HOW THE EXCLUSION ZONE WORKS.
Depending on who you ask, the zone is effective. Forty-three people have been excluded from downtown, according to Municipal Court Administrator Jeff Perry, since enforcement started in late October 2008.
Eugene Police officer Tom Schulke refers to the ordinance as a tool in the tool box.
He recalls seeing a man inject a juvenile female with heroin in downtown. "When you're conducting crime like that ... I'm not sure how much these guys care about the repercussions, but they do care about the extra hassle if police see them down there and they can be simply arrested just by being in this area."
While some people take their exclusions seriously, some had to be arrested multiple times for it to sink in, said Schulke. Police have had that trouble with fewer than 10 people.
Kaz Oveissi says he's "absolutely" noticed a difference since the exclusion zone went into effect.
His store, Oveissi & Co. is located at Broadway and Willamette, right across from Kesey Plaza. Oveissi said he often witnessed drug deals in the area.
"There were a couple, three people that should not come downtown and those guys are gone," said Oveissi. "So yeah, definitely, I see a difference."
"I guess I have to say I don't think it's made a huge difference," said Mary Unruh, director of the DIVA Center.
Bar owners who spoke with KVAL also said they had not noticed much change.
But has the exclusion zone simply pushed crime to another part of the city?
Schulke says the answer is both yes and no.
"It's dispersed it," said Schulke. "Sometimes it's put other people outside the area under the gun, too, but it's at least made it so it's not such a concentrated behavior that can happen over and over in the same concentrated area."
