CITY OF NORFOLK, VA
Mayor Paul D.
Fraim
Norfolk Establishes Community Based
Environmental Enforcement Programs
The
Problem
In the spring of 1994, an event occurred that
proved to be a catalyst for change in how the City of Norfolk responded to
illegal dumping and a wide range of other environmental violations. A citizen
called 911 one midnight to report that there was a strong, gasoline-like smell
in the street that seemed to be coming from a storm drain. The City's Hazardous
Materials Response Team, or Hazmat, a division of the Fire Department, was
called to investigate. Hazmat first examined the storm drain catch basin and
noticed an oily sheen. No source for the sheen was noted nearby, so Hazmat began
to trace the storm drain line in both directions. At one end, the storm drain
emptied into a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, where an oily sheen was also
found. At the other end, the storm drain line was traced to a commercial
property where a business specializing in ship tank cleaning was
located.
Through the front gate, Hazmat observed a hose
coming out of a tanker truck that was pumping fluids into a storm drain catch
basin on the site. This catch basin was connected to the storm water line that
led to the outfall. Hazmat requested the business owner to cease the pumping,
and then notified the City's Storm Water Division, in the Department of Public
Works, to respond. At that time, neither Hazmat nor the Storm Water Division
were trained in criminal investigations, so neither took samples of the fluids
leaving the hose in order to try to match them with the substance entering the
Chesapeake Bay at the outfall. The Police and Fire Marshal's Office, who were
trained in criminal investigations, were never called to the scene. The Coast
Guard was finally called, but failed to maintain a proper chain of custody for
the samples they took. As a result, no criminal case could be brought against
the company for the discharge, and the City spent over $50,000 to clean up the
petroleum product in the storm drain and at the outfall.
A Task Force Is Established
At a subsequent debriefing, it was discovered
that the City staff who responded to the incident did not know who to call to
assist in the investigation, or even what some of the other City departments or
agencies could provide in the way of assistance or support for an environmental
crimes case. At this same meeting, it was also noted that the incidence of
environmental crimes in the City was increasing.
In order to better handle responses to
environmental crimes, in 1994 the Mayor and City Council authorized the City
Attorney's Office to establish the Norfolk Environmental Crimes Task Force,
which is the first of its kind in the state of Virginia and is chaired by Deputy
City Attorney Cynthia B. Hall. In order to ensure the broadest coverage, a
representative of every City department was invited to participate, including
Police, Fire, Health, Public Works, Utilities, Parks and Recreation, General
Services, City Planning and Codes Administration, and Human
Resources.
The Task Force established four initial goals:
1) to enhance communication and cooperation within City government and with
other government agencies; 2) to revise the Norfolk City Code to make it more
stringent and enforceable; 3) to prosecute violators of environmental laws to
the fullest extent possible, and 4) to educate the public about the adverse
environmental effects of illegal dumping and other environmental
crimes.
As a first step, the Task Force set up regular
monthly meetings. Initially, each department gave a presentation on their
operations, equipment, training and procedures, to educate other departments. A
fax tree detailing every department's emergency contact person was developed. A
"Core Response Team" was created, comprising representatives from Police, Fire,
Health, and Public Works, who would receive special training in incident
response and evidence handling. >From that point on, whenever an
environmental crimes case arose, the Core Response Team would respond as a
group, and would involve other departments as needed.
Once the Environmental Crimes Task Force and the
Core Response Team had been established within City government, the next step
was to coordinate effectively with other state and federal enforcement agencies.
In 1995 the City Attorney's Office developed a Regional Environmental Crimes
Task Force, with representatives from the U. S. Justice Department, U. S.
Attorney's Office, the U.S. EPA, the FBI, the Coast Guard, the Corps of
Engineers, U. S. Customs, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Virginia
Department of Environmental Quality, Virginia Department of Emergency Services,
and seven local cities from the Tidewater region of the state, including
Norfolk. This Regional Task Force also meets monthly to exchange information
about violators and prepare joint investigations on illegal dumping and
hazardous materials cases.
That year, the Norfolk Task Force developed and
implemented mandatory training for code inspectors and supervisors in all City
departments on proper protocols for handling environmental crimes cases.
Weeklong refresher classes that include instruction on new protocols are given
twice a year.
The Task Force undertook a long, hard look at
the Norfolk City Code, to determine what laws could be used against
environmental violators. What the Task Force found were outdated codes providing
nominal penalties. For example, a person dumping 10,000 tires in a City drinking
water reservoir could only be charged with a "littering" code violation (the
only law on the books at that time that fit the crime), resulting in a paltry
$250 maximum penalty for a serious and egregious violation.
Having decided that Norfolk's "littering" code
was inadequate for serious offenses, the City's Task Force drafted an entirely
new Environmental Offenses Code, which was adopted unanimously by the City
Council in 1996. This code, another first of its kind in the state, has become a
template for other Virginia municipalities that are drafting or amending
environmental laws. The maximum penalty under Norfolk's new Environmental
Offenses Code is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by a $2,500 fine and/or 12
months in jail for each day of offense. (Under Virginia law, a City's local code
can only provide for penalties up to a Class 1 misdemeanor. Felonies are written
under state law.) In addition, the new code also requires the judge hearing the
case to order the responsible party to clean up the violation.
Norfolk's Environmental Offenses Code now
specifically covers situations ranging from littering to the dumping of
hazardous materials in a storm drain, the improper disposal of tires, and even
the illegal abandonment of derelict boats. Moreover, the code permits the City
to go after "passive" violators (those who allow or permit a violation to occur)
as well as "active" violators (those who actually commit the unlawful act). Once
convicted, illegal dumpers must also provide the court with proof that they have
properly disposed of the materials they were ordered to clean up. The code has
also been used creatively by Vice and Narcotics Police Officers in situations
where suspected drug dealers who are fleeing the scene have thrown packets of
drugs on the ground.
To beef up
enforcement of the City's code, in 1996 the Norfolk City Attorney assigned a
prosecutor full time to handle environmental crimes cases. Prior to the
implementation of the Task Force, a prosecutor was not assigned to handle cases
in Police Court but only cases coming before the Court of Record. (In Virginia,
a Police Court is a Court not of record. Cases are appealed from Police Court to
Circuit Court, a Court of record, where the violator gets a brand new trial).
Now, the Deputy City Attorney handles the prosecutions in Police District Court
and, when they are appealed, in Circuit Court.
It is now
the City's policy to seek jail time and/or a fine in all environmental crimes
cases, which now average over 200 new cases a year. Restitution is also sought
for any costs associated with the investigation, including the cost of police
time, use of city vehicle, cell phones, photos or videotaping. Since 1996,
Norfolk has recovered over $100,000 per year from violators in restitution
alone, an amount equal to nearly 100% of the costs associated with investigation
and prosecution, and places these funds in a dedicated account for future
responses or cleanup costs. The Deputy City Attorney also requests that all
violations be remedied within a set time and, if the violations are not cured,
immediately seeks sanctions. At the sentencing or plea-bargaining stage, many
jurisdictions obtain fines but do not require violators to correct the problem;
that is not the case in Norfolk, where the City demands and obtains full
compliance and cleanup from the guilty parties. As a result, 100% of the
violations charged have been fully remedied.
For less serious offenses, the City requests
that violators be assigned to perform community service work in lieu of jail
time. To date over 100 violators have been assigned to the Offender Cleanup
Program, where they have collected more than 10,000 pounds of litter, been
assigned to work at recycling drop-off centers, and have removed graffiti from
dozens of locations. The Offender Cleanup Program is managed by the Norfolk
Environmental Commission, which is the City's Keep America Beautiful affiliate
program and is part of the Public Works Department.
The Commission supplies the cleanup locations,
equipment, offender supervision, and maintains records of community service
performed. The Commission also reports illegal dump sites and requests
surveillance from the Task Force. To help the public identify and report
environmental crimes, the Commission also worked in partnership with the Health
Department and Storm Water Division to produce 10,000-plus public education
pieces in the form of brochures, refrigerator magnets, bumper stickers and car
litterbags, and publicizes locations where motor oil and household hazardous
waste can be safely and legally disposed.
Before the inception of the Environmental Crimes
Task Force, very few charges were brought under the old "littering" code
because, as some enforcement personnel noted, the penalty was not sufficient to
justify the effort. To ensure that information concerning the Task Force and the
new Environmental Offenses Code was widely disseminated, the Task Force trained
every Fire, Health, Zoning, Building, and Code inspector on the new code and how
to present an environmental case in court. The Task Force also teaches this same
curriculum at the Police Academy and to the Police Chief's staff, to ensure that
all of the City's 700-plus police personnel are aware of the new environmental
laws and enforcement tools.
Since that time there has been a phenomenal
increase in the number of cases brought against violators, with code inspectors
and police officers issuing an average of ten new environmental crimes charges
each week. The most common violations involve the dumping of motor oil down
storm drains, the dumping of demolition debris and tires, and improper disposal
and storage of hazardous waste. This is one recent example of how seriously the
courts deal with these violations: a police officer recently observed a person
walk across an apartment complex open area and toss an orange juice container on
the ground. A wastebasket stood just ten feet away. The officer asked the person
to pick the container up and dispose of it; the person refused and was issued a
violation. The judge who heard the case imposed a $500 fine and 30 days in jail,
neither of which was suspended.
Due to the burgeoning caseload and in
recognition of how environmental crimes impact residents' quality of life, the
Fire and Police Departments reallocated resources to provide consistent coverage
on these issues. Fire Chief Haupt established a Hazardous Materials
Investigation Unit in the Fire Marshal's Office, comprising one supervisor and
two investigators who inspect all facilities where hazardous materials are
stored. The unit also investigates environmental crimes and is part of the Core
Response Team. Police Chief High established an Environmental Crimes Unit in the
Police Department, assigning one officer full-time to investigations and to act
as liaison with other police officers on environmental issues. The result has
been a high level of collaboration between the two Departments on environmental
crimes.
To educate the public about the serious effects
of illegal dumping and other environmental crimes, the Task Force has developed
a hotline number for citizens, and partners with the local "Crime Line" to offer
rewards leading to the arrest and conviction of environmental violators. The
Task Force has developed public service messages for radio, as part of car
litterbags and refrigerator magnets, and for insertion in utility bills, to let
citizens know how they can report illegal dumping. Members of the Task Force
regularly speak at civic league meetings and teach a Citizens' Academy on
Environmental Crimes, a four-hour class held five times a year, to familiarize
the public with typical violations seen in the field.
The public response has been excellent, with
calls to the hotline averaging four to five per day. Based on this and other
information, the Task Force has identified "hot spot" dumping areas and has had
new "No Dumping" signs installed to indicate that these areas are under
surveillance. In some cases, fake pole cameras were mounted to deter dumpers who
would believe they were being filmed.
Using the Team Approach to Address Blight and
Other Neighborhood Issues
Since the
Environmental Crimes Task Force was formed in 1994, the most important
development has been the fact that each City department no longer works in a
vacuum. City departments began to talk to each other, then to develop
partnerships, and now they approach complex issues as a team, using a
multi-faceted, problem-solving approach. Norfolk's Environmental Crimes Task
Force was so successful that it was used as the model to develop two additional
municipal teams to deal with neighborhood and blight issues.
Norfolk is an urban city with older housing
stock. Citizens began organizing in late 1997, challenging the City's leadership
to deal with specific neighborhoods that were deteriorating. Many citizens felt
that the code-enforcement process -- as it related to conditions like
dilapidated buildings, junk vehicles, trash, high weeds and grass -- simply took
too long.
In response to these concerns, in 1998 the Mayor
and City Council authorized the establishment of a Code Enforcement Evaluation
Team and Neighborhood Environmental Assessment Teams (NEAT). The Code
Enforcement Evaluation Team is a multi-agency task force that evaluates City
departments responsible for code enforcement, and the codes themselves, to
ensure that the laws are stringent and that appropriate departmental policies
and procedures are in place to enforce them.
To make sure that residents had input in
designing solutions to neighborhood problems, each of the City's seven Council
members designated several citizens to be members of the Team. They have been an
invaluable part of the process, helping to develop an assessment tool to
evaluate departments involved in code enforcement; identifying and eliminating
the causes for delays in getting neighborhood problems solved, and helping to
establish a new "zero-tolerance" policy for violations like high grass and
weeds. When Team members looked at internal communication among field staff of
various code enforcement departments, they discovered that every department had
a different radio frequency channel and could not "talk" to each other while in
the field; since then, a "chat" channel has been instituted to provide
across-department communication.
Based on the Team's recommendations, which the
City Council unanimously endorsed, the City's codes relating to other
environmental issues including nuisances, rat and mosquito control, commercial
vehicles, junk vehicles, animals, trespassing, vacant buildings and demolition
have all been revised. Of equal importance is the fact that all City inspectors
and police were also given the authority to enforce all of the City's codes,
eliminating departmental jurisdictions and allowing for the broadest coverage
for enforcement. Team members are currently reviewing the City's Solid Waste,
Water and Hotel Codes.
In January
of 1999, members of the Code Enforcement Team's Codes Review Committee lobbied
the Virginia General Assembly for state enabling legislation, to give localities
new tools to combat neighborhood blight. As a result of their efforts, 12 new
blight bills in areas never covered before were adopted by the Virginia General
Assembly and took effect on July 1, 1999. One key new section concerns "spot
blight," which allows localities for the first time to acquire actual title to
blighted properties through a condemnation process. Prior to this new law, the
best a locality could do was to sell the blighted property at a tax sale to a
new owner who was hopefully more responsible. By acquiring title, localities now
have control over whom the property is sold to, and Norfolk has instituted a
background check to screen candidates.
To assist
the City's code inspectors in preparing environmental crimes cases for court,
the Code Enforcement Team also developed a mandatory, weeklong training course
that includes mock crime scenes and courtroom presentations. Citizens also
expressed a need for training on what codes the City enforced and what
constituted code violations, so a Citizens Environmental Codes Academy was
established in March of 1999. The Academy is a four-night course that is held
four times per year; during these three-hour sessions each of the City's code
enforcement departments describes what they do and their enforcement procedures.
The Academy has been so popular that there is a waiting list, and an advanced
course is now being planned.
In addition to the Code Enforcement Evaluation
Team, in 1998 the Mayor and City Council also authorized the establishment of
six operational Neighborhood Environmental Assessment Teams (NEAT). Each NEAT
Team is responsible for a different area of the City, divided by police sector,
and their purpose is two-fold: 1) to intervene in crime-generating activities of
occupants or owners of property where illegal activity occurs, and 2) to
effectively and efficiently use existing manpower and resources by focusing
efforts on chronic violations using targeted team inspections.
NEAT Teams include staff from Existing
Structures, Environmental Health, Police, Zoning, Fire, Public Works, Animal
Control and other City departments as needed. The theory behind the team
approach is that what one inspector cannot do alone, a whole group can handle
effectively, so the NEAT Teams work in partnership with citizens, civic leagues,
neighborhood watch groups and businesses, to seek out and eradicate chronic
violations.
Prior to the NEAT Teams, each code inspector
would go out into the field and handle his/her one area of responsibility, which
resulted in piecemeal and delayed enforcement. The City then implemented
Citywide "sweeps," where every property in Norfolk was inspected at least once a
year by a group of inspectors. The problem with this approach was that many of
the properties "swept" each year had no violations and so the City was wasting
resources. In 1995 for example, code inspectors "swept" over 204,000 properties,
of which only 7.4% (about 14,000 properties) were in violation, at a cost of
20,000 inspector-hours.
When the NEAT Teams were created, it was decided
to target the 7% of properties found to be in violation with 100% of City
resources. Regular inspections still continue in all areas of Norfolk, but now
the focus has shifted away from broad sweeps, in order to concentrate on
targeted team inspections.
The NEAT Teams are expected to conduct monthly
team inspections of the most chronic code violations in their assigned sectors.
A chairperson coordinates data collection and makes the monthly report available
to City staff and residents. The teams monitor and follow up on the status of
chronic properties to ensure continued compliance. The teams are also trained in
legal processes, case preparation and courtroom testimony, so that they can be
ready for legal action when it must be taken against violators.
The NEAT Team approach has already paid off.
From August to December of 1998, the six NEAT Teams targeted 52 properties with
chronic violations, issued 143 violation charges, and saw 91 percent of those
violations corrected within 30 days. Local residents and civic leaders are
pleased with the results so far. "The biggest thing that has occurred is an
attitude change," said one resident. "And it's contagious. We can now get ahead
of the curve and be proactive instead of reactive." Another civic leader said,
"Honest communication and the free exchange of ideas between the City and
residents has led to more satisfaction with and confidence in the
code-enforcement process. The results prove that a team approach to chronic
violations really works in Norfolk."
The Norfolk Environmental Crimes Task Force
assists other localities in setting up task forces and drafting new laws, and
representatives regularly speak at seminars and conferences about their
activities. In 1996, the Task Force was awarded the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Partnership Award, for its "extraordinary contribution to
chemical emergency preparedness and prevention programs."
For more information, please
contact:
Cynthia B. Hall
Deputy City Attorney
City of Norfolk, Department of Law
810 Union Street
908 City Hall Building
Norfolk, VA 23510
Phone: (757) 664-4529
Fax: (757) 664-4201
E-mail: chall@city.norfolk.va.us
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