The Pine Bluff Police Department quality of life division code enforcement officers placed warning notices on trailers and cars Monday in the KG Greenfield Mobile Home Park, one step in an enforcement of laws outlawing blight.
Deputy Police Chief Susie Powell oversees the quality of life division. This division employs code enforcement officers who are not police officers but who have code enforcement powers. The code enforcement officers inspect condemned houses, abandoned cars and unkempt lots and attempt to make contact with the owners. They can also call for a Pine Bluff police officer for assistance.
Animal control officers joined in the enforcement effort at the KG Greenfield Mobile Home Park at 1719 S. Ohio St. The mobile home park is within a crime-ridden neighborhood or “hot spot.” This designation has been applied to areas where there were more than 21 crimes that the Pine Bluff Police Department responded to within a five-block area from Feb. 13 to May 13, Powell said.
Powell said that officers knocked on doors in an attempt to speak with residents about code violations but did not receive many responses. In those cases, officers posted warning notices containing detailed information about the violation, she said. Some people were home, opened their doors and spoke with officers, Powell said. They were able to do their jobs without incident.
Tara James is an animal control officer within the Pine Bluff Police Department. She said her colleagues and she found two puppies under a trailer living next to a dead raccoon, a dead opossum and possibly a dead dog. The mother of the puppies was roaming around the trailer home, she said.
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James secured the animals in a cage, noting that they appeared to be hungry and thirsty, she said.
“People were not caring for these puppies,” she said. “We will bring them to the animal shelter, give them food and water and a bath,” James said. “We will give them a bed and the mother can nurse the puppies. They will be placed for adoption.”
A foul odor filled the air outside the trailer from where the puppies were rescued.
“I am trying to round up dogs that are not being taken care of,” James said.
Before October 2014, code enforcement officers were still enforcing laws, but they did not have the benefit of police department oversight. The mere presence of the law enforcement officers accompanying the code enforcement officers makes a huge difference, Powell said.
“We are not going to come out here and let the code enforcement officers be verbally abused,” Powell said.
Quality of life code enforcement officers are visiting all neighborhoods in Pine Bluff, Powell said. The code enforcement officers issued notices Monday at the KG Greenfield Mobile Home Park in response to violations of laws governing high grass, garbage in laws, roaming dogs and abandoned vehicles, Powell said.
Powell said most people want to live in a clean neighborhood. On a tour within the KG Greenfield Mobile Home Park, Powell pointed out multiple trailer homes that had received warning notices. One trailer had a tree resting on its roof.
“We get out here to find out why this is the hottest [crime] area of the city,” Powell said. “This is overwhelming. We are in the preliminary stages. People are being given seven days to address the issue. We will return to see what progress they have made. At that time, we will either give people more time or give a citation for failure to abate the nuisance.”
Rod Carroll is a quality of life division code enforcement officer within the Pine Bluff Police Department. He placed notices on an abandoned car with broken windows Monday in the KG Greenfield Mobile Home Park.