As acts of violence and threats towards
code enforcement officers rise,
two California Senate bills aimed at increasing
safety measures have stalled
after being placed on the Senate Appropriations
Committee’s suspense
file. At a time when violent acts against
code enforcement officers are on the
rise, stalling these two bills on the suspense
file is particularly alarming.
In many jurisdictions, code enforcement
officers are now tasked with
enforcement of various violations traditionally
addressed by sworn police/
sheriff personnel. These violations
include, but are not limited to, illegal
cannabis operations, illicit massage
operations and homeless encampment
abatement. Code enforcement officers
are also the first-line enforcers of
COVID-19 regulations, and do considerable
enforcement against slumlords
who operate in underserved communities.
Since 2015, the California Association
of Code Enforcement Officers
(CACEO) has received 86 reports of
safety incidents including, but not limited
to: nine death threats, 11 physical
assaults, 10 occurrences of weapon
brandishing, 17 physical threats, and
six stalking incidents. Tragically, 20
code enforcement officers have given
their lives over the years. Because
there is no requirement to report safety
incidents to CACEO, the true numbers
are likely higher than the aforementioned
figures indicate.
In January, a Sacramento County inspector
was stabbed outside of a strip
mall. The week prior, a Tracy resident
was accused of attempted homicide after
he intentionally hit a code enforcement
officer with his vehicle. Sadly,
these are just two recent examples of
the many incidents of homicide or attempted
homicide on a code enforcement
officer in recent years.
Earlier this year, CACEO introduced
Senate Bills 101 and 296 which are
aimed at increasing code enforcement
officer safety. Senate Bill 101, sponsored
by Senator Jim Nielsen, would
close the loophole in existing law by
prohibiting the disclosure of the home
addresses of code enforcement officers
by the Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV).
Senate Bill 296, sponsored by Senator
Monique Limón, would require cities
and counties to establish safety protocols
specific to the duties and risks
faced by code enforcement officers in
their particular jurisdictions. Currently,
many jurisdictions do not have programs
to properly train and help protect
code enforcement officers from
threats, assaults, batteries, or worse.
Both senate bills have been placed
on the Senate Appropriations Committee’s
suspense file. The suspense file
is where the committee pigeon holes
all bills that are purported to have cost
issues. This despite the fact that SB
101 includes language which provides
that all costs associated with its adoption
will be covered through a fee paid
by the applicant for the service provided
by the DMV. SB 296 also does
not require new spending or costs. As
written, jurisdictions will retain the control
to design and implement training
and safety protocols within their existing
budgets based on the dynamics of
their community.
CACEO is urging the Senate Appropriations
Committee to remove both
bills from the suspense file to allow
them to proceed with the legislative
process.
Reader Comments(0)