Welcome to the new blog portion of my website. I'm going to be discussing issues that arise in code enforcement and invite comments and ideas from you. In today's difficult economic environment, we're all struggling with how to perform our jobs with decreasing resources. We're being confronted with new challenges daily due to the foreclosure crisis (ever try to find a live person to speak with about pipes bursting in subzero weather in a foreclosed house with mold growing so bad the residence can't be salvaged?) In my practice as a municipal prosecutor, I deal with these questions daily. I'm also interested in how effective code enforcement can reduce crime in a community and I will be writing about that issue. While I can't give legal advice on this blog, I will be pointing out interesting cases that may be useful to you.Leveraging Code Enforcement for Neighborhood Safety
Simon Goldstein with the Business and Professional People for the Public Interest shared a great resource with me. It’s a brochure that deals with police-code-community partnerships and it discusses the relationship between code enforcement and neighborhoods. Its opening paragraph is as follows:
Effective enforcement of building and housing codes is a key ingredient in many neighborhood revitalization efforts. Community developers have found that the long term success of their revitalization work often hinges on cleaning up or redeveloping problem properties that deter investors, frustrate existing residents and generally contribute to an environment of fear, disorder and crime. Law enforcement also understands the important relationships of crime, blight, and code enforcement. Under the rubric of the “broken window theory”, social scientists have documented the opportunistic nature of crime, showing that vacant properties and dilapidated buildings become magnets for crime. Applying the techniques of problem-oriented policing, more law enforcement agencies today use a place-based approach to tackle these neighborhood hot spots deploying special nuisance abatement teams with assistance from their code enforcement partners.
You can download the entire brochure at http://www.lisc.org/content/publications/detail/5648
Category(ies): Law Enforcement and Codes
I attended your seminar in Peoria on July 22, 2009 and you talked about case law against an inspector that had just happened recently. I thought I wrote it down but I can’t get any information on it. Redwood v Lierman
Can you help me with this??
I am still trying to figure out how I can satisfy the 4 amendment after going through an administrative hearing. I have talked to the City Attorney and the answer I received from them was not the same thing that you instructed on towing cars and cleanuing properties. They quoted (no need for an administrative warrant since we went through the administrative hearing and received the order to tow or clean the property). I’m confused now
Can you give any further information to help??
Thanks Ron
Ron
Please see my latest post with the case citations. Thanks for your comment.
Linda