By Renee Schiavone
Published November 7, 2013
The City of Rancho Cordova is the winner of this year’s Most Innovative Code Enforcement Program Award. Sponsored by the California Association of Code Enforcement (CACEO), the highly-competitive award honored the City’s Code Enforcement Division for having a partnership with the Sacramento County Probation Department in which Probation Officers share offices and work closely with Rancho Cordova’s Police Department and the City’s Code Enforcement staff.
“We are fortunate that our City Council and City Manager allow us to be creative to deal with everyday issues,” said Kerry Simpson, Rancho Cordova’s Neighborhood Services Manager.
In 2011, Sacramento County Probation Department approached Rancho Cordova to suggest a pilot program that would place two Probation Officers with Code Enforcement staff and Problem Orientated Police (POP) Officers to work on joint concerns. The offer was eagerly accepted and it did not take long to see the benefits of having Probation Officers available to assist code staff in the field. They assist on unsecured vacant building and other calls, they can act as a liaison with Police to get a quick response when code staff is dealing with problem individuals, and they provide support and ensure safety in other cases.
“We are finding that people on probation are either moving out of Rancho Cordova or becoming productive residents while maintaining their properties,” said Simpson. “We believe this collaboration could be a model for other cities.”
