Code enforcement project underway

Olney, Texas (KAUZ) - Olney Police Chief Dan Birbeck said around three years ago, an officer was responsible for over code enforcement for the City of Olney. Significant progress was made, however, that officer was later promoted to detective.

“Since that time he was promoted to detective and the caseload has pulled him from being able to do that or doing it to the level that we would have anticipated,” Birbeck said.

During a recent city council meeting, the employment of a full-time police officer was approved, therefore officer Joe Logan can move to code enforcement full-time. Birbeck said he believes assigning officer logan to this position was necessary.

“We were definitely at a deficit there due to case load on our side so what I decided to do was use that employee to specifically focus on our code enforcement issues in town,” Birbeck said.

Helping those facing violations is also top of mind.

“If this is their home or they’re falling on hard times the code enforcement officer will try to hook them up with different resources like rolling planes or whatever resources are out there or some non-profit groups or churches to try to help people get back on their feet,” Birbeck said.

Officer Logan says their goal is simple.

“There’s a lot of work to be done, we’ve got a lot of projects in mind to get the city going make it what it can be, Olney is a great town and has a lot of potential and that’s what I want to see is the beautiful town that it can be,” Officer Logan said.

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