Since April, there have been 26 arrests made in connection with enforcing the city's laws for keeping up property.
Officials also point to the 252 junked cars that were towed away and to the cleanup of a number of troubled properties.
"We've had some great progress," said Police Officer Tom Lavigne, who is detailed to code enforcement work. Lavigne is a former city councilor.
Lavigne and Building Official Guy Morin like to go together to deal with property owners who have problems that need attention.
"We always take a friendly approach," Lavigne said, because the goal is voluntary compliance. The pair try to let people know about programs that might help them comply with the law.
"It's an educational effort as much as an enforcement effort," Mayor Art Ward said.
City Councilor Mike Rimcoski said he went out with the pair on some calls and found they were getting much success out of taking a helpful approach instead of a confrontational one.
City Councilor Kevin McCauley said that the team approach has made a difference.
Once the blight ordinance is revised, he said, the arsenal will be even stronger for officials to use in their bid to make the city safe and clean.
"It's time the slumlords in town learn the city means business," said city Councilor Ken Cockayne.
It appears, though, at least 26 of them got the message already.
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
30 comments:
That's a good idea ..... Make some wacky laws to infringe on the rights of honest , sincere taxpaying citizens and turn them into criminals that can be dealt with rather than actually apprehending real criminals .
I bet that makes them feel good too .... Who are the REAL criminals here ???...
poster 332 what a way to twist a story.
Which "wacky laws" are you talking about? The ones that say you can't keep a bunch of junk cars in your front yard? Or maybe the one that violates your constitutional right to be a slumlord?
Honest, sincere taxpaying citizens take pride in where they live.
Blight hurts us all and should not be tolerated.
This code enforcement is good for all of us.
I hate the slumlords and the people who have no consideration for others with thier blight, but sending a police officer with the building official for simple code violation is intimidation.
Did the city send the police officer to accompany the building official when the developer of the new Walgreen's store on South street and Zoning board chair Frank Johnson was breaking the rules and disobeying building inspector?
how about code enforcement on dog waste on city property!? Like the sidewalks and grassy areas within the city - enforce that disgusting habit from dog owners.
Re: 12:34 AM Post
I like the Walgreen's windows.
First of all, to the first poster. If they are honest, sincere, taxpaying citizens, then you won't EVER see Mr. Morin or Mr. Lavigne at your doorstep. They only show up to the violators so I don't know why you're concerned about rights being infringed upon. The people who leave their junked cars on their property and have houses that are falling down and are posing a hazard to the public are the ones who are being targeted and they should be. They are the ones that thumb their noses at our officials and Mr. Morin needs Mr. Lavign to help him track down these owners to make sure they comply or to fine them if they haven't complied. By the way, the Walgreens is not a blight situation so your anger does not apply to this ordinance. We need to get rid of the carts, the junked cars and the dangerous housing that's an eyesore. Hit the slumlords where it hurts ... in their pocketbooks! All that blight sends a message that it's okay to come to Bristol and dirty is up, because no one cares so then we end up attracting citizens who don't care and landlords who don't care. Let's raise the bar for once, shall we?
Whatever happened to the ordinance prohibiting all kind of signs, including political, on city property???
Political signs are considered part of your 1st amendment rights to free speech and can not be regulated by the city.
I wish Mr.Cockayne would follow the example of Officer Lavigne and Guy Morin and also use the friendly approach with people rather than the confrontational approach. Having owned several properties in Bristol, I for one have had just about enough of Councilman Cockayne's insults and name calling (slum lords, West End is for drug dealers, etc) and I am calling on the Mayor to have Cockayne tone it down. Is he a cheerleader for this town or is he trying to divide it? How is amplifying Bristol's weaknesses going to help develope our downtown? For the record, there are a variety of reasons why property can become distressed and unappealing. Probably the most common one is when an elderly person, usually a male, dies and leaves behind property to his elderly widow (an estate). Many times there are legitimate financial reasons why property can unfortunately fall into disrepair. I would encourage all politicians to stop with the b insults and labels. Focus on the positive not on the negative.
This is an interesting post.
It is rather unorthodox to have a police officer assigned to full time code enforcement in a city the size of Bristol. Twenty six arrests in nine months or so, about 3 a month does not seem terribly productive. Wouldn't it be more efficient to have the officer available when needed, one or two days a week, rather than full time. At other times the officer could be engaged in normal police work.
Bringing an armed police officer with the power of arrest to what in most jurisdictions is considered a civil rather than criminal matter would seem to be intimidating rather than friendly.
What is meant by arrest? To me it means the person is restrained and brought to the police station for booking, etc. Or does it mean the person is issued a citation and ordered to appear in court, something roughly akin to a traffic ticket?
Apparently a number of blogists here believe the Bill of Rights guaranteeing the right to life , liberty , and persuit of happiness only applies to the beautiful .
Such a shame to see this happening in America . :-(
I wouldn't judge Lavigne's effectiveness on the basis of number of arrests. I'm sure that for every "arrest" he has a dozen discussions with property owners first so that he doesn't have to "arrest" them.
~~~~~~~~~ First of all, to the first poster. If they are honest, sincere, taxpaying citizens, then you won't EVER see Mr. Morin or Mr. Lavigne at your doorstep. They only show up to the violators ~~~~~~~~~January 16, 2008 12:19 PM
Do you really think that TAXPAYERS are NOT being assaulted by these criminals that are enforcing these biased "laws " ?
btw .... when it comes to keeping lawns mowed .... Does anyone know the liability to the city if one of these 'violators' should come down w/ Lyme Disease or West Nile Virus while trying to comply w/ these barbaric 'laws' ??
Mr cockayne for the record some of us that have been approached by the city ,have the oppurtunity to address the issue ,unfortunately some of us have to decide between prescriptions and maintaning are homes,I do agree that Code enforcement is neccessary.I would like say that they were professional when they came to my house.Like you i was'nt born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
there was nothing wrong with the old system. "officer" levigne has been hired by the city to do nothing more than stick his nose into other people's business. so he wanders the streets of bristol harassing the citizenry based on his own skewed interperetation of the zoning laws just to justify his salary. another fine example of the corruption in this city's government.
Bob B.
Does the constitution permit one to put signs on property without permission?
Yours, mine, the citys?
How about City Hall property?
I think that was the issue that was put on the table.
Ken Cockayne is a rabble rouser who will make a political career by spouting off and then being quoted in the media.!!
Officer Lavigne has been incredibly helpful with our neighbor who has many code violations and never pulled any permits for anything. They should be applauded for what they do. Homeowners can be downright nasty when it comes to their properties so a police officer should be there.
Sometimes home owners have to get nasty because others are trying to meddle with their property.
Resident - no one said a police should not be available if needed. The question is, is he really needed on a full-time basis.
I suspect that this publicity is in response to dissatisfaction in the Bristol PD. Several officers I know have been more than critical about this (Steve would not allow the exact language that they used). Lavigne has been more or less permanently given a soft gig with day time hours and minimal oversight.
"Several officers I know have been more than critical about this (Steve would not allow the exact language that they used). Lavigne has been more or less permanently given a soft gig with day time hours and minimal oversight."
These are probably the same officers who refused to help out with code enforcement for years because they felt it was beneath them. Lavigne took the initiative to work with elected officials who wanted to stop Bristol's slide into becoming New Britain, and to get special training in zoning enforcement. Someone should tell those officers that you reap what you sow.
In a well run PD it is not up to individual officers whether or not they will assist in code enforcement. In a well run PD, officers would be tasked to help the building inspectors as needed. Of course, given the current PD it may just be possible that an officer can forgo his / her assigned duties and work with other departments at his / her discretion. It is also possible that the PD couldn't be bothered. After all what is a few code violations to a department that dumps active cases into the circular file?
Lavigne, the former councilman, probably got the job due to politics. Whether it was as a political favor or an effort to get him out of the PD, I do not know.
Does any other town use Police Officers on a regular basis?
Does this come out of the Zoning budget?
I see Stortz is back doing his usual blogging. Thank God he no longer has a city computer to do it with.
"Lavigne, the former councilman, probably got the job due to politics. Whether it was as a political favor or an effort to get him out of the PD, I do not know."
His stint on the City Council certainly made him familiar with the players and the issues, but no one "gave" him anything. His attitude, experience and initiative made him the right officer for the job.
Officer Lavigne gets paid out of the police budget. This is neither a unique situation to Bristol nor an unusual practice. Many towns use police officers in their schools. Others asign a full time detective as an investigater in the Office of Corporation Counsel.
The important thing is that first last and always he is a sworn member of the Police Department and is always subject to being ordered by the Chief to return to police work on an emegrgency basis or to cover vacations, sickness, etc.
I have bo idea where Bristol is or even who MR. COCAINE is, but I can tell you something... all of you probably have violations somewhere on your property. A trash can out front past five in some cities will find you in court for a thousand dollars. When it affects you, then you will care and no one will listen. That's the beauty of your ME generation. People out west have "government officials" arrested for entering property without a warrant, and they have signs to warn them- police and mayors alike. Some of you probably would not even risk your neck to help an old lady- shame on you. Well, as they say- Hell is hot, and the fire is burning- Enjoy.......Bristol.
BOB B:
Are you there?
Do you have an aswer?
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