Monday, October 11, 1999
Code, litter enforcers are now police
Chief: Change shouldn't alarm
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — The city's building code and litter enforcement unit is now a part of the police department, giving code enforcement officers the ability to issue citations on site if necessary.
But Newport Police Chief Tom Fromme wants to impress upon city residents and property owners that the primary aim of the department is not to be punitive but rather to try a new approach to improving the city's overall image.
“What we have done is bring several aspects of city government together to help people improve their property and meet city codes,” Chief Fromme said. “We want the role of the code enforcement officer to be in line with our community-oriented policing program.”
He said he wants to emphasize to property owners that a great deal of litter control is simply a matter of the owner's taking care of his or her home and yard.
“I think some people have developed the idea that the city should cut the grass between the sidewalks and the streets, and clean up litter because it doesn't necessarily originate on their property,” Chief Fromme said. “But the property owner has to take some responsibility for general maintenance and cleanup. We hope everyone will want to take pride in their city and neighborhood.”
The code enforcement unit has seven officers, complete with new uniforms, who will make routine visits to the city's various neighborhoods and will also be on call for specific problems.
“I want the code enforcement people to be on the street as much as possible, just like (police) patrol officers,” Chief Fromme said. “Calls for code enforcement or litter problems will be relayed through our regular police and fire dispatch center.”
Assistant Police Chief Col. Robert McCray, who is in charge of the code enforcement unit, said the ideal approach for the officers is to assist property owners in correcting their problems without the need for warnings and/or citations.
“We want to be able to go to a location and give advice to the owner, make recommendations about how they can clean up or repair the problem,” Mr. McCray said. “We don't want this to be just a punitive exercise. We don't want to just have to cite people.”
Chief Fromme said he would like to see inspectors be able to call property owners on the telephone “and just say, "Hey, could you please cut your grass.' That would be much easier for everyone than having to visit the property and issue a warning.”
As part of the overall restructuring of code and litter enforcement under the police department, a code enforcement board is being formed to handle appeals of building code and litter citations.
“I've received about 20 applications,” Chief Fromme said. “We hope to have the board in place in November. The board members have to be city residents, so in effect this is a peer review.”
Since the police department assumed control of code and litter enforcement, more than 20 warnings have been issued, both by enforcement officers and regular patrol officers.
“The way the process works, we will keep a log of all violations and warnings, and if after a reasonable amount of time the violation has not been corrected, we can issue a citation,” Chief Fromme said. “The property owner then has seven days to appeal the citation and take it to the board.”
He said many of the city's building code and litter violations that require enforcement are not generated by individual home owners but by rental properties owned by absentee landlords. He said it's not unusual to find discarded tires and appliances on some properties.
“We have received complaints about our enforcement, and we'll have more,” Chief Fromme said. “I think part of it comes from a fear of the unknown, of the enforcement officers now being part of the police. But we're not here to hurt anyone. We want to work with the property owners, especially those people on fixed incomes like the elderly.”
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