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(ow MEMO <br /> To: The Scobert Park Departmental Advisory Committee <br /> From: Officer Jackie Turle <br /> SUBJECT: SCOBERT PARK <br /> I have been an officer assigned to the Whiteaker neighborhood since July, 1995. I've worked in <br /> the area on foot, in a patrol car, and on a bicycle, as well as in uniform and in an undercover <br /> capacity. Scobert Park has been an area that I patrol, alone, and with other officers. <br /> Scobert Park is an area frequently used by homeless people who sleep and hang out there during the <br /> day. In addition to homeless adults, I've contacted a number of homeless youths and some homeless <br /> families who gathered at the park to meet their friends. But because of the problems in the park area, <br /> their friends are not the only people they meet. The problems that I've seen in the park include <br /> drinking, drug dealing, prostitution and what we call, 'Violation of Park Rules.' (Violation of Park <br /> Rules is a list of crimes illegal in any park within the City limits of Eugene.) These offenses are <br /> committed by people passing through, and by people whom we call 'chronic violators.' <br /> A chronic violator is police 'lingo' for someone who frequently commits the same offense time and <br /> time again. For example, there are several people I have cited for the same offense (i.e. drinking) <br /> in the park over the past year. They are issued a ticket or when possible put in jail. They are <br /> released, then given a court date. Typically, they don't show up for the court date. A warrant is <br /> issued, they are again picked up, booked, then released again. Often they go back to the same area <br /> and commit the same offense until another warrant is issued for their arrest. <br /> I have dealt with many people like this in Scobert Park. There are several men and women who use <br /> the park to drink, use drugs, solicit prostitutes, or who are prostitutes, on this cycle . Many of them <br /> know the routine. They know the cycle. They often throw their tickets away after they receive <br /> them. They leave an array of trash, bottles, syringes and litter behind throughout the park. <br /> The design of the park inhibits good enforcement. The south/back area is concealed by the bushes <br /> and shrubs along the southwest, south, and southeast borders. People go into the back, south area, <br /> and engage in any number of illegal acts because it gives them concealment and privacy. It is an <br /> area not easily seen from the street because it is dark, secluded, and bordered by trees and shrubs <br /> and the backs of the houses which face West 5th Ave between Polk and Blair Avenues. <br /> Not only is the design of the shrubs inhibiting to effective patrol of the area, but the lighting in the <br /> park is poor. The lighting used in Scobert Park is the ornamental design used for residential parks <br /> throughout the city. Nighttime lighting is poor, leaving most of the park in the dark. This again <br /> provides good concealment for any number of activities that are clandestine and illegal. <br />