00:00 Kern County Code Compliance officers sometimes put themselves in harm's way to respond to
00:04 cases across the county, according to a grand jury report released in June.
00:09 Now in August, the Kern County Board of Supervisors responded to that report.
00:13 23 ABC's Dominique Lavigne joins us now with how their recommendations will improve safety
00:17 for code compliance officers.
00:20 Dominique.
00:21 Between 2015 and 2021, the grand jury reports 141 safety incidents against code enforcement
00:28 officers, including 108 incidents involving some sort of threat, stalking, or brandishing
00:33 a weapon.
00:34 And in response to the findings, the Kern County Board of Supervisors agreed to provide
00:38 more funding to support public works with more resources.
00:42 There's always a balance between needs and resources.
00:44 So we're a large county.
00:46 We've got a number of different departments and only so much funding that's available
00:50 for these kinds of general fund expenditures, which code compliance is one.
00:55 Some of the additional funding will go to eight new vehicles by 2025 and two new positions
00:59 for code compliance officers.
01:01 James Zervas, chief administrative officer with Kern County says the grand jury reviews
01:05 departments every year.
01:07 And while they don't review every county or department each year, he says the board works
01:10 with the grand jury so they don't have to wait on the changes.
01:13 We don't sit back and wait for them to point out issues within our organization that we
01:18 need to address.
01:19 We're constantly doing that and working with our department heads to figure out what they
01:23 need to be successful in this case, in bringing code compliance to the level that we want
01:28 it to be in Kern County.
01:30 The grand jury really helps supplement that and gives us an outside opinion on areas that
01:34 they think that we can make improvements in as well.
01:37 Back in June, the grand jury recommended that code compliance officers partner with the
01:40 Kern County Sheriff's Office to keep officers safe while responding to incidents across
01:44 the county, suggesting KCSO assign one deputy to code compliance at least one day a week
01:49 for abatements, which can include the cleanup or removal of a homeless encampment.
01:54 KCSO disagreed with some of the findings in the report but has not responded to our request
01:58 for comment.
01:59 Our officers are not peace officers and so they do not carry currently any real protection
02:05 as the sheriff do.
02:06 And so we, our people are put in harm's way and we want to make sure that they are protected.
02:12 Joshua Champlin, the public works director, says his department partners with KCSO to
02:16 serve the community better and keep their officers safe.
02:19 Our plan was to have a greater presence in the community and so this grand jury report
02:25 may accelerate our plan and so I think that does give our, the public, it should give
02:30 the public a sense of greater security that we are out there working on their behalf.
02:39 For a complete look at the grand jury report and the Board of Supervisors response, visit
02:43 us online at TurnTo23.com.
02:45 Live in studio, I'm Dominique Lavignier, 23 ABC News, connecting you.
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