Legislative Policies for the 2007 Oregon Legislative Session

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City of Eugene Legislative Policies for 2007 Oregon Legislative Session City of Eugene Legislative Policies for 2007 Oregon Legislative Session and down utility lines which require extensive and uncompensated public expense. The C10. Use of Polygraph for Police Officer Hiring City supports legislation that allows responding entities to recoup their costs for handling The City supports a revision to current State law (ORS 659A.300 and any other relevant these sorts of events caused by negligent or reckless behavior, sections) so that a polygraph and/or other established technology for truth verification can be used as part of the hiring process for police officers. C3. Criminal History Checks for Child Care Workers The City supports legislation to allow law enforcement agencies to conduct nationwide C11. Police Systems Development Charges (SDCs) criminal history checks on prospective child care workers. The City of Eugene provides a New growth places additional demands on city services. The City supports expanding the before- and after-school program called Kid City Adventures, Currently, the State existing definition of capital facilities for which SDCs can be imposed to include police Children's Services Division provides Oregon criminal history checks. The City supports protection, to help offset the costs of new policelpublic safety facilities. expanding its ability to protect children in its care by obtaining nationwide criminal history checks on ros ective em to ees. 1 C2. H I p p p y ea th Hazard Exposure Information for Public Safety Employees The City supports legislation which would ensure, incases where a public safety officer C4. Streamline Abatement Process (e.g., police officer, firefighter, paramedic) or court employee was exposed to bodily fluids The City supports changes to streamline the process of abatement proceedings on drug of another person while performing his/her duties, that the other person be required to houses and other properties on which illegal activities are occurring. Loopholes in the submit to a blood test to determine whether s/he is positive for a serious contagious current abatement process have led to extended abatement proceedings, taking months, disease (e.g., HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis C) and that the results of that test be released in a and in some cases more than a year, to complete. The current loopholes allow violators to timely manner to the affected public employee. Some cases of such exposure require lengthen the process by faking compliance, making perfunctory efforts to clean up a immediate treatment of the employee to counteract the effects of exposure and protect property and taking advantage of generous deadlines. his/her health. Currently, that information can only be obtained if the person voluntarily agrees to be tested and to release the results of the test. This issue is important because C5. Traffic Enforcement Tools: Photo Radar, Photo Red Light any delay or refusal on the part of the person contacted to allow such testing and/or the The City supports giving communities the authority to use photo radar and photo red light release of the results can put the public employee at risk of death or sustaining a serious, technologies as traffic enforcement tools. The City supports efforts to extend both debilitating illness. technologies to cities on a wider basis. C13. In-Car Video Cameras C6. Firearms Regulation The City supports a revision to current State law (ORS 165.540) so that police officers The City supports laws which strengthen reasonable requirements for the purchase of using in-car video camera systems are exempted from the requirement to inform people' handguns. The City will work to protect its regulatory authority with respect to firearms. being contacted by police that they are being recorded. The current law has not kept pace Infringement on these powers reduces the City's ability to protect its citizens from criminal with technology, and in-car video systems fall under it only because of the audio they acts involving firearms and ignores the diversity among communities within this state, record. Arguably, under the way the current law is written, a police officer who forgets to advise a person could be considered to have committed a Class A Misdemeanor, since no C7. Local Ability to Deal With Unsupervised Youth culpable mental state (e.g., intent) is included in the statute. Exempting this increasingly ` The City supports local ability to detain runaways and other juveniles who are beyond prevalent technology from the requirements of this statute will allow communities to set parental control and facilitate their referral to appropriate agencies. The Ciry supports their own standards regarding when an advisement should be given, and avoid the risk of strengthening the ability of the juvenile system to intervene and provide services to these losing valuable evidence - or, potentially, use of the video footage for any purpose, such as juveniles. Some services currently are not available to them because they have not resolving a citizen's complaint against anofficer- if, in a particular circumstance, the committed "criminal" offenses. This reduces the ability of agencies to provide services, advisement is not done. and provides no incentive for the juvenile to change his or her behavior. C14. Enhanced Penalty for Theft of, or Intentional Damage to, Public Infrastructure C8. Traffic Safety The City supports legislation which would enhance the seriousness of the offense in cases The City supports passage of laws which are practical in their application and will enhance where an item stolen or intentionally damaged constituted a part of governmental or public the safety of the motoring public. utility infrastructure, such as wiring for electrical generation or lighting. The epidemic of theft of copper wire creates not only a serious economic burden on local government, but C9. Enforcement of Immigration Laws and Collection of Information creates a risk to the public by making ineffective devices which are in place to enhance The City opposes legislation that would broaden the authority and responsibilities of local public safety, such as street and bike path lighting.. The Ciry also supports legislation law enforcement to conduct interviews to collect information on certain individuals not which would aid in investigating and prosecuting those who purchase such stolen items. suspected of a crime and/or detect and apprehend persons whose only offense is violation of Federal immigration law. The City supports that no changes be made to ORS 181.575 C15. Indentification of Persons Stopped for Violations of Law and 181.850, The City supports legislation which would require that a person stopped for a violation of law identify himself/herself to a police officer. Current law makes it a crime to give false 30 31