Eugene police auditor reports record 412 complaints, concerns rise

Eugene’s police auditor told City Council that his office received 412 complaints last year, the highest total since the office was created in 2005. The spike, which topped 2024 by more than 90 complaints, puts a hard number on rising frustration in Eugene over police response, surveillance technology and immigration enforcement.

Craig Renetzky said the surge may reflect both current events and greater awareness of the office, not necessarily a simple jump in misconduct. The complaint mix, he said, included slow patrol responses, the Flock license plate camera system and federal immigration enforcement, three issues that reach beyond individual officer conduct and into how Eugene Police Department policy is carried out in public.

The Independent Police Auditor’s Office has become a more visible pressure valve for those concerns. The City of Eugene says the office was established as an external oversight mechanism for complaints against Eugene police employees, and that the auditor reports directly to and is funded by the Eugene City Council, not the police department. Renetzky started in the role on Aug. 20, 2025, after the council appointed him in May 2025 following a nearly eight-month hiring process. Before coming to Eugene, he spent nearly 16 years as a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles, later ran a criminal defense and immigration law practice, and served as a hearing examiner in law-enforcement discipline cases.

The office had already been flagging the same themes months before the annual report. A July 2025 monthly update identified two major concerns: Eugene Police interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the department’s use of Flock readers. The office said it received 45 complaints in August 2025, continuing a trend of higher-than-average intake. In November, Renetzky reviewed allegations that Eugene police had been present during immigration enforcement activity and said records showed no police vehicles at the scene, no dispatch calls for service, no radio traffic indicating a response and no evidence that Eugene police assisted.

A January 2026 newsletter put the 2025 complaint count at 411, up from 318 in 2024, while also reporting 166 reportable uses of force, down from 173 the year before, and 295 commendations for Eugene police. Whether the record complaint total reflects worse conduct, better reporting access, or both, the city’s own oversight system is now capturing a broader set of public concerns than simple street-level policing alone.