Article about armed code enforcement

[JNA]

HEADLINE: Cobb wants to arm code enforcement unit
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/met...code_0910.html

HIGHLIGHTS:

... the so-called Quality of Life Unit ...

Gwinnett County created a similar unit in 2005, using armed police officers as an as an adjunct to its code enforcement officers, who are not armed or certified as police. Gwinnett also has taken the county code enforcement division under its Police Department...

What do you think about code enforcement not being a planning dept function ?

Something about the title of the Cobb County unit bothers me, does it bother you ?

Is this to close enough to Big Brother for you ?

[Jen]

seems to me to that if a city wants its nuisance laws obeyed in a timely manner then the city CE officers better be trained in law enforcement. Why even call them code enforcement officers if they are not trained/certified/ or sworn in as police officers.

I prefer a community development approach, and if the case is stubborn or gets ornery call in the po po's. People know they can fight city hall but they can't fight the cops.

[hilldweller]

What do you think about code enforcement not being a planning dept function ?

It is actually quite common for code officers to be independent of the planning dept. Most planners probably like it this way because they want nothing to do with code enforcement.

[Otis]

Code enforcement used to be in planning in my city, and now it's in the police department. I like it this way because we don't have to be the big bad hammer coming down on innocent grandmothers.

[Bubba]

DISCLAIMER: I reside in unincorporated Cobb County.

What do you think about code enforcement not being a planning dept function ?

Fine by me.

Something about the title of the Cobb County unit bothers me, does it bother you ?

Simply out of curiosity, what bothers you about the name of the unit?

Is this to close enough to Big Brother for you ?

This, in my opinion, does not even remotely begin to approach "Big Brother".

[RandomPlanner]

My initial reaction to this article, and the one that came out yesterday --http://http://www.ajc.com/services/c...svc=7&cxcat=13 -- wasn't good. I guess I'm still pretty small town and didn't realize that using police officers for CEOs wasn't that unusual. I just can't help but think -- aren't there more important things for our police to be doing than measuring the grass on my lawn and counting how many poeple are sleeping in my home? (I don't mean that negatively against CEOs at all, but the police should be in a different category, I think.)