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further help reduce the volume of EMS calls.

Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner said his department would look to implement some of BerryDunn’s recommendations.

He said different kinds of officers can deflect responsibility to each other and need to be brought under one framework. “I think there’s a way we can coordinate our resources better in the city, and so I’m thinking about what that might look like,” Skinner said.

Councilors were receptive to the findings.

“I know and understand that CAHOOTS is deeply under-resourced, is asked to do things that it was not originally charged to do, and one of the things that we really need to do is realign our systems so that they perform more efficiently,” Councilor Greg Evans said.

However, they expressed concern over how to pay for some of BerryDunn’s recommendations.

Weinzetl also acknowledged the city will likely have to choose between recommendations because of budgetary constraints.

Councilors Emily Semple and Mike Clark expressed concerns about Eugene’s high level of services, with Clark saying the city is providing more services than people in Eugene expect it to and Semple, who said she got onto the council advocating for people without housing, suggesting the amount of services may be contributing to Eugene’s high population of unhoused people.

“It’s just horrifying to hear and know that we are the highest per capita of homeless in the country. How do we stop doing that? And then the other part of that is that we are providing an unprecedented level of service –– and I can’t believe these words are coming out of my mouth, but they may be connected,” Semple said.

But, as a whole, councilors acknowledged a need for change.

“I watch these incredible growth swings and calls for service, and I watch the street level resources that we have that have changed very, very little since 1980, when I started here. So it’s very interesting, and it’s something I think we need to keep at the forefront,” Councilor Randy Groves said.

Weinzetl declined a request for an interview, citing BerryDunn’s policy to not speak to the media. CAHOOTS did not respond to a media inquiry in time for this article’s publication.

(Kai Kanzer/Emerald)

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