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Piedmont council urges more consistent enforcement, signage and fee changes to curb off‑leash dogs
Summary
After resident concerns and police data showed concentrated off‑leash activity at Crocker Park, the council and police chief discussed tiered fines, progressive enforcement and the use of state collections to improve compliance; staff will return a proposed fee change in the next budget draft.
Council members raised concerns about off‑leash dogs in several parks, particularly Crocker Park, and discussed options to encourage compliance, including tiered fines, sustained enforcement and improved signage.
The police chief told the council that enforcement effectiveness depends on certainty rather than only severity of fines and noted a new administrative collection tool: "Certainty beats severity," the police chief said, and added that the department recently made arrangements to send unpaid administrative fees to the State Franchise Tax Board for collections. The chief and councilors discussed a progressive‑fine approach (increasing penalties for repeated offenses), more signage at problem parks, and focused enforcement in locations that draw many complaints. Council asked staff to present a tiered fee or fine schedule and recommended stronger signage and operational proposals for the June 15 budget update.
