To: Board of Supervisors
From: Planning and Building Department
Agenda Section: Consent
SUBJECT:
title
Code Enforcement Officer Safety (SB 296) and Pepper Spray Policy
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RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Adopt the Code Enforcement Officer Safety Standards as required by California Senate Bill 296.
2. Adopt the Pepper Spray Policy
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SOURCE OF FUNDING:
The preparation of this Board report is funded from the Code Enforcement Unit of the Planning and Building department (1100269-608000). The cost of safety equipment and training proposed in the safety standards will be funded by the same budget unit.
DISCUSSION:
Senate Bill 296 requires each local jurisdiction that employs code enforcement officers to develop safety standards appropriate for the code enforcement officers employed in their jurisdiction. Local jurisdictions must evaluate the safety hazards and risks applicable to their code enforcement officers and develop appropriate safety standards.
The Planning and Building Department evaluated the potential risks and safety hazards for Code Compliance Officers in Humboldt County and developed the Code Enforcement Officer Safety Standards (see Attachment A).
Penal Code Section 829.7 of the California Legislature finds and declares that code enforcement officers are disproportionately at risk for threat, assault, injury, and even homicide due to the nature of their obligations. They are charged with enforcing a wide array of state and local laws found in the municipal codes and county codes of every jurisdiction in California. These range from straightforward yard maintenance issues to extremely dangerous and complex substandard housing and building issues, enforcing laws relating to illegal cannabis, enforcing pandemic-related orders, insect and rodent infestations, and land use.
Humboldt County presents a unique risk many other counties in California do not face: the remote areas of the county la...
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