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Public commenters press Eugene council over EPD conduct; calls grow for chief’s resignation and strengthened civilian oversight
Summary
During public comment, multiple residents and activists accused Eugene Police Department of collaborating with federal immigration enforcement, enabling a fence around the Federal Building, and failing to hold officers accountable; several speakers called for Chief Skinner to resign and urged expanded powers for civilian oversight bodies.
A string of public commenters at the June 22 Eugene City Council meeting criticized the Eugene Police Department’s conduct and urged city officials to act on transparency and accountability.
Sam Sanderson told the council he had seen video evidence of ICE vehicles parked in the EPD lot and described what he characterized as coordinated response tactics, saying "ICE would not be here kidnapping and brutalizing our neighbors if not for the support of EPD." Pete Goldlust accused the city of assisting the federal government in erecting a fence at the Federal Building and cited a federal judge’s ruling that the fence violated First Amendment rights. Robert Brock highlighted the size of local police funding and urged that money be redirected to housing, medical and alternative crisis‑response services, referencing Cahoots as a prior local model. Several speakers — including Taryn Brevig and Eliza Brock — said that incidents show department culture problems and urged the council to give civilian oversight bodies stronger authority. Taryn Brevig specifically asked the council to extend complaint filing windows and said, "Removing one person alone won't reform the culture that Chief Skinner would leave behind."
No formal council action on policing or Chief Skinner occurred during the meeting; councilors acknowledged the breadth of comments and scheduled related discussions (councilors noted a pending work session on complaint timelines for the police auditor and indicated staff would follow up).
