A three-hour Eugene Police operation focused on trespassing and drug use led four of five individuals to choose deflection, entering treatment instead of jail.
Eugene, OR. — A focused three-hour operation on November 10 resulted in most contacted individuals choosing treatment over arrest, as Eugene Police and Lane County Behavioral Health partners emphasized deflection instead of jail for low-level offenses.
An EPD detective, a Lane County Behavioral Health peer navigator, and a patrol officer worked together to address trespassing and drug use in west Eugene. The effort used the county’s Behavioral Health Deflection Program, which offers people facing drug possession or minor quality-of-life offenses an alternative to criminal charges, connecting them with treatment services rather than citations or incarceration.
Over the course of the operation, four out of five individuals accepted deflection…