Some students are probably doing a celebratory dance at the news of the demise of the Eugene Police Department Party Patrol. Here at the editorial board, we’re breathing a sigh of relief. According to EPD patrol captain Becky Hansen, the patrols were ended for budgetary reasons, but stopping the focused weekend patrols brings a note of sanity to the EPD’s relationship with the campus community.
It was never a good idea to focus so much police energy on one area of concern. Admittedly, a few years ago there were a couple of incidents with partiers-cum-rioters, but sending special teams into campus neighborhoods with the sole purpose of hunting down college students having parties was not the way to handle the situation, for a number of reasons.
First, as was made apparent by the decision to disband the patrols, it was a waste of money. The officers doing special party duty were often working overtime. Our city has some crime problems that need genuine attention, such as methamphetamine production and a recent string of armed robberies, and we need police to be properly rested for duty and available to combat serious crime.
Second, it is unfair to crime victims to have officers on the street yet unavailable for serious crimes. How favorably do homeowners look at the EPD’s use of resources if they have to wait for police to respond to someone breaking into their houses, simply because other officers are knocking on doors, looking for college kids tapping their kegs too early? Police will still respond to party complaints, but now those complaints will be prioritized along with every other police call. Well, geez, that makes sense. Did the police really need a budgeting problem to make this decision?
Finally, the Party Patrol was responsible for more bad feelings between students and police than a few outreach programs will ever be able to undo. The patrols cemented the image of police as having no common sense and being like unyielding moms and dads with guns and the ability to fine you a lot of money. With the passing of the purposive patrols on parties, perhaps college students and the EPD can begin to mend the relationship and see each other as vital and vibrant parts of the community, which they both are.
Perhaps it’s still a good idea to have patrols on weekends of big Duck games and for homecoming. Recent words about the situation from the ASUO made it sound as though the police have no right to bust party-goers who are breaking laws. Out-of-control policing is one thing, but for genuinely out-of-control parties the police do, in fact, need to crack down. There’s certainly a fair amount of partying on home-game weekends, and we can all guess that some of those will get out of control, and there will be minors drinking at many of them. We hope students will not use the end of the regular patrols as an excuse to have parties that disturb their neighbors and send trashed minors out into the community. A little restraint on both sides will go a long way toward ensuring that the Party Patrol is never implemented again.