Enforcing little law prevents big crimes Published on Wed, Feb 3, 2010 by Robert Spinks, Sequim (WA) Police Chief http://www.sequimgazette.com/spinks www.ci.sequim.wa.us/police Editor's note: Today begins a monthly column written by Robert L. Spinks, chief of the Sequim police department. Its purpose is to inform Sequim Gazette readers about crime and law enforcement issues that lie behind our routine police and courts coverage.
When you talk crime prevention, most people don't instantly conjure up images of found bicycles, graffiti, parking violations, junk cars, nuisance violations, animal control, piled-up garbage or signage violations. However, those activities, if left unattended, breed much larger crime problems. In 2006, the city of Sequim hired its first code compliance officer. This position was established to work with the Police and Public Works departments to respond to and handle nonemergency Sequim Municipal Code violations.
Code compliance officer Lisa Hopper is the first officer to hold this position and she provides services on a variety of coderelated issues within the city limits. She has been proactive in her efforts to educate and notify citizens of possible code violations. She also has been active in updating portions of the Sequim Municipal Code to streamline enforcement actions.
Hundreds of complaints Perceptions of how busy a small city is always amaze me. Of course, citizens shouldn't have to worry about crime nor code violations. That's really what my staff and other city employees like Hopper focus on, worry about and try to anticipate every day. In the world of code enforcement in Sequim,
Page 1 of 3
that means starting off by handling nearly 300 animal complaints each year. These range from the irritating barking dog, to a vicious bite incident all the way to rats and rabbit infestations.
violations or break that cycle of violation, that you can prevent much more serious crimes from occurring while protecting the livability of a neighborhood or community.
According to Hopper, she "recently caught a raven that was injured and it was turned over to Greywolf Veterinarian Hospital, seagulls with broken wings and my favorite was a cooler dumped at the end of Prairie Street, in the field, that was full of domestic rats.
Erasing tags
"When I moved the cooler, they all came running toward me." (Lisa really doesn't like rats!) "I caught most of them. When all was said and done, I ended up catching 23 rats."
Getting their goats Other cases have had Hopper rounding up three goats in Applebee's parking lot, finding safe homes for pigs, responding to marauding raccoons and intervening to save neglected horses.
But animal cases are just a slice of the workday for the Sequim code enforcement officer. One crime prevention theory says that if you let code violations such as the abandoned home that starts having broken windows go unattended, then graffiti soon follows - then vandalism, burglary and the life of that neighborhood slowly sinks into crime. The Broken Windows Theory also subscribes that if you prevent these code
In Sequim, since 2006, we have seen the success of code enforcement enhance community livability time and again. Unlike many communities, Sequim has very little graffiti, while some of our neighboring cities are plagued by it. Graffiti left unattended encourages, almost acts as a magnet for more graffiti and other crime soon follows. Abatement efforts in Sequim require graffiti removal after notice by Hopper. On the other end of that action, all graffiti is photographed and inventoried in Sequim. Recently, a very prolific "tagger" was identified and arrested on multiple counts of malicious mischief because of this enforcement. In her travels, Hopper also removes more than 100 abandoned or junk vehicles from the city annually, contacts more than 1,200 citizens and still manages to issue more than 100 warnings or citations.
New nuisances Nuisance properties also spring up around town, and Hopper always is on the lookout for and responding to community complaints about unoccupied property needing mowing, especially during the
Page 2 of 3
spring and summer, nuisance houses with clutter, garbage or other debris that can breed a host of infestations. Hopper notes, "On the most recent nuisance property, I was able to work with OlyCAP in Port Townsend and with Waste Management. Waste Management wanted to do a community service event. "Working in conjunction with these organizations, the property was cleaned up in one day. I am continuing to work with the owner on removal of some of the abandoned vehicles on the property now." Being proactive and working with the community is Hopper's aim. The purpose of code enforcement is not just enforcement and making arrests or issuing citations. As the mission statement that guides Hopper every day says, "Code enforcement is dedicated to preserving a safe, clean, friendly community for all our citizens. We are committed to working with the public on compliance of our city codes through education, awareness and enforcement." Educational fliers on a variety of topics have been completed and are available online at www.ci.sequim.wa.us or at Public Works, City Hall and the Sequim Police Department. Hopper's office number is 6834908.
Robert Spinks is Sequim chief of police.
Page 3 of 3