Clayton Police to handle Code Enforcement

Clayton County commissioners, hoping to improve the look of streets and neighborhoods, voted to reassign code enforcement duties from the community development department to the police department. Code enforcement is one of the most frequent citizen complaints. The complaints include garbage in the middle of roads, graffiti, abandoned cars and unkempt homes. Commissioner Michael Edmondson pushed for the change, saying police can better enforce the codes. For example, Edmondson said, there was no one to receive code enforcement complaints after normal business hours. He also said existing code enforcement didn't respond to e-mail complaints. The police department, he says, has staff afterhours, can respond to e-mail complaints and can better deal with people unwilling to listen to code enforcement officers. "There's a long list of efficiencies that work better through the police department," Edmondson said. The code enforcement staff will now work under the police department. "It's something that obviously needed to be addressed," Edmondson said of code enforcement. "It seemed a natural progression...to help us clean up our streets and neighborhoods and I think it's going to lend to an increase in our property values and I think it is going to decrease crime."