The Ashland City Council has approved a first reading of an ordinance amending the procedures for banning individuals from designated Enhanced Law Enforcement Areas.
Currently, police may ask a judge to ban someone convicted of certain crimes within an ELEA during a six-month period. Expulsion can result from three or more nuisance violations, such as public drinking or littering; two or more misdemeanors, including trespassing or theft; or a single conviction for unauthorized burning or assault.
People banned from an ELEA can travel through the area for essential services, such as medical care or groceries.
The change would allow police to request a ban after someone is charged, rather than waiting for a conviction. Ashland Police Chief Tighe O’Meara told the council that court backlogs mean convictions can take years.
“This is not about creating new enforcement zones,” councilor Dan Bloom said at the Sep. 16 meeting. “It's not about criminalizing homelessness, and it's certainly not about denying anyone access to essential services like food, medicine or work. Those rights are explicitly protected.”
O’Meara distanced Ashland’s ordinance from Medford’s civil exclusion zones — referred to as the “Medford model” — which give police wider authority to ban individuals. A U.S. District Court judge upheld Medford's policy after homeless residents challenged it in court.
“It does not remove judicial discretion,” O’Meara said. “It leaves the decision whether someone is expelled from a geographically defined area up to the judge.”
Defendants can appeal an expulsion order at no cost.
O’Meara said the ELEA helps address a small group of people who repeatedly commit crimes in Ashland.
“It is certainly my belief that this will be a tool to cut down on the recidivism and the chronic negative behavior that we’re seeing out of individuals,” O’Meara said.
Although public camping violations don’t count toward a ban, some residents said they worry the ordinance targets the homeless population. Public comments have become heated during meetings where the council has discussed the ordinance. On Tuesday, one speaker was escorted from the meeting after repeatedly calling O’Meara a "fascist."
The city has had a downtown ELEA since 2012. Councilors added a second area in the south of Ashland in January.
