In the January 24, 2018, issue of the Register-Guard, Eugene’s independent police auditor Mark Gissiner writes in a guest viewpoint:
Recent discussions of the ballot measure that would create a Eugene performance auditor’s office have briefly mentioned our office, the Eugene Independent Police Auditor. This is an opportunity to remind people of our department’s extensive police oversight role.
The Office of the Independent Police Auditor and the Civilian Review Board were established by voter-approved city charter amendments in 2005 and 2008 to provide an external mechanism for the receipt, classification and adjudication of complaints against sworn and non-sworn employees of the Eugene Police Department. We are an office of the city’s legislative branch — the City Council. We do not report to the city manager, who supervises the chief of police.
Our mission is to provide an accessible, safe, impartial and responsive intake system for complaints while ensuring accountability, fairness, transparency and trust in the complaint system.
Our office has three broad mandates: 1) to receive and classify complaints of police misconduct, 2) to audit the investigations stemming from these complaints, and 3) to analyze trends and recommend improvements to police services. …