Message from the Chief Of Police

CODE COMPLIANCE - MEASURING POSITIVE PROGRESS

Our Code Compliance Unit is vital to improving the “Quality of Life” in our Island City.  As you may know, 2021 and early 2022 saw several vacancies in this unit for an extended period of time, and we struggled to provide the levels of service we desired, and that which you deserved.  We are pleased to report all but one part-time position is filled, and our code officers are passionately working to address violations in your area.  Our current complement of code officers is working 7 days a week in search of code violations with the intent to make positive change in our community.  General working hours for our officers are 7:00 am – 6:00 pm weekdays, and also on weekend evenings until midnight to identify violations that present when the sun goes down such as lighting, lawn watering restrictions and noise.  The fruits of our positive progress reside in the numbers in that our code unit has generated 466 code cases the first half of 2022 marking a 152% increase in this category.  Violations identified have also increased 23% to 752, while unit activities such as inspections, meetings with property owners and other efforts to work toward compliance have increased 111% (2,129).  We also like the fact 75% of our code cases are proactively generated by our officers as we prefer to already be working on an issue before you report it.  I am very proud of the positive energy members of our code team display knowing they are one of the difference makers in beautifying our neighborhoods and commercial districts.  For more information about our Code Compliance Unit and how we can help you, visit our website at www.wmpd.org and search “Code”.