Many who live in Lane County may feel safe from victimization, but the reality is that the county’s public safety system is severely understaffed, and it’s beginning to impact crime rates, according to a recent report.
The Public Safety Coordinating Council this weekend released its 2008 Criminal Justice System Report

Card, which showed that Lane County’s crime and public safety is much the same as it was in 2006: bad and getting worse. The adult criminal justice system received an F in resources and capacity and a D in justice and accountability despite its good grades in efficient and effective use of resources, and crime and safety.
“The criminal justice system is about one step short of crumbling in Lane County,” said District Attorney Doug Harcleroad. “It’s just out of whack.”
PSCC citizen member Gretchen Pierce said criminal justice in Lane County has seen the same theme repeating itself and worsening over the past few years: “Resources are stretched very thin, but we’re very effective and productive with what we have.”
The rate of police officers per capita in the county is one of the lowest in the nation, according to Lane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Clint Riley.
But the report also found that criminal justice staff has dealt with the monumental problems it faces remarkably well – the PSCC gave them an A in efficient and effective use of resources in 2006 and a B in 2008 – but it may not hold on much longer, Pierce said. For overall crime and safety, Lane County received a B- in both 2006 and 2008.
“There is some end to our ability to collaborate well when resources continue to dwindle,” she said.
Harcleroad agreed: “It’s hard to be effective when the system is crumbling around you.”
The primary reason for Lane’s understaffed criminal justice system is its small budget. Although 50 to 70 percent of most local jurisdiction budgets fund criminal justice in the county, there still isn’t enough.
“Lane County has one of the lowest tax rates in the whole state of Oregon because we grew up on timber revenues for a lot of county resources,” Pierce said. “Since then, timber has dried up and the feds supplemented that, but now that’s going away.”
A large portion of the sheriff’s office is also funded by the Secure Rural Schools Act, which gives the county federal timber payments and will be up for renewal in June. If the act isn’t renewed, the county will have to start making millions of dollars in cuts.
Pierce said the impact of underfunding is likely to start showing itself in county crime statistics within a few years.
“We don’t want this community to feel any less safe, but I guess there’s a real need to get the community to understand that things are only likely to get worse,” Pierce said. “It’s right around the corner and it’s a serious dilemma.”
Harcleroad, too, believes the criminal justice system would have more money were citizens more aware of the problems.
“Various public safety measures have been put out to the voters and have been repeatedly voted down,” said Harcleroad.
Because the county lacks the resources to employ more criminal justice staff, 123 beds in the Lane County Jail are currently closed, leaving only 152 available to house local offenders. The jail lets out 11 local offenders every day due to lack of capacity.
“There are people who are not being held accountable for their actions, which is having a direct impact on crime rates,” said Riley.
Since the criminal justice system is unlikely to receive any more money, the county’s only hope is its citizens, Pierce said.
“You can sit here and say, ‘Well, why should I pay for something that may not help me, that I don’t really need? I’ve never been victimized, so I don’t really care,’” she said. “One of these days, you will be victimized and you will care.”
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