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Belgrade police chief says code enforcement shifting toward education, requests ordinance updates
Summary
The police chief told the council he reassigned code enforcement to report directly to his office, emphasized an education‑first strategy for parking and right‑of‑way issues, and described coordination with finance to improve ticket collections and a recent booting program for unpaid fines.
The Belgrade police chief reported to the council that code enforcement has been moved under his office, overseen by a civilian manager, and that the department is emphasizing education — flyers, door hangers and warning periods — before escalating to citations for repeat offenders.
The chief said weekly meetings with code staff and new coordination with the finance department have helped retool software and payment portals so tickets can be tracked and collected more reliably. "Charity has been kind enough to spend some extra time to help with the payment portal stuff," he said, thanking finance for support.
He described parking enforcement as a mix of education and traditional enforcement, noting the city has begun booting vehicles for unpaid fines as a new collection tool and that appeals continue for citations such as angle parking and parking against traffic flow. The chief said many ordinances are outdated and he plans to work with staff and city legal counsel on ordinance changes to give code enforcement more timely tools.
Council members raised questions about contractor behavior in construction zones and whether right‑of‑way definitions are understood by homeowners; the chief cited a near‑miss in which a child struck the back of a trailer loaded with rebar to underscore safety and liability concerns.
No formal action was taken; the discussion framed future ordinance changes staff expects to bring to the council for review.
