With the current climate of mistrust or even hostility toward police departments in some U.S. cities, officials in Wright City are discussing police involvement in community code enforcement.

Wright City’s Board of Aldermen discussed the topic with Police Chief Matt Eskew during a Sept. 10 public meeting. Prompted by a hiring ad for a dedicated code enforcement officer, Ward 2 Alderman Ramiz Hakim asked if that employee should be moved from the police department to city hall.

“Is this an opportunity that we can reexamine who, or how, we enforce code, and get law enforcement out of the business of telling people to cut their grass?” Hakim asked.

He said the suggestion was out of concern for the safety of officers in the current national climate. Administrators at city hall are the ones issuing building permits and receiving code violation complaints, Hakim said, suggesting that transferring the code enforcement employee there could also be more efficient.

If the job does remain within the police department, Hakim said the employee should be dressed as a civilian, without any police insignia.

“I think we need to seriously consider, in this day and age, how we approach citizens, for the safety of the officer. If we’re showing up for grass, we don’t need a badge,” Hakin said.

Police Chief Eskew said he shared some of Hakim’s concerns. Prior to the position being vacated, the code enforcement officer was already dressed as a civilian. Eskew said the officer carried a badge, but stopped displaying it and switched vehicles after protests against police actions in other cities began earlier this year.

While the position is vacant, Eskew said uniformed officers are handling code enforcement if a complaint is reported, or if there is a clear risk to health and safety.

Responding to Hakim’s suggestion of moving code enforcement out of the police department, Eskew said the decision belongs to city aldermen.

“It’s entirely up to the board on how they want to handle this,” Eskew commented. “We have a municipality just to our west ... (where) the code enforcement officer answers to the city administrator.”

Eskew added that code enforcement was not originally managed by the police department. Police took on the responsibility during Eskew’s tenure as chief.

Mayor Dan Rowden clarified that the person hired to do code enforcement will be a civilian employee, even if they are managed within the police department. He said the city administrative offices at city hall are already busy, and that he doesn’t necessarily want to add more to the city administrator’s duties.

Rowden said retaining code enforcement under the police department keeps that employee within a supervising structure, and provides them with guidance from the surrounding department.

The board of aldermen took no action on the issue during their Sept. 10 meeting.