Heaton named South Dakota Code Enforcement Officer of the Year

Pierre Police Officer Drew Heaton has been named the Code Enforcement Officer of the yr by the South Dakota Affiliation of Code Enforcement.

Officer Heaton was nominated by Pierre Police Chief Jason Jones and chosen by the Affiliation for his work mitigating property upkeep violations.

Jones says property upkeep enforcement is hard enterprise, typically requiring quite a lot of endurance and interpersonal abilities. He says Heaton makes use of compassion and coronary heart to carry voluntary compliance to nuisance properties.

Heaton says code enforcement is a workforce effort. He works side-by-side with Andrew Mentele, Pierre Metropolis Constructing Inspector, and Matt Elberson, Metropolis Constructing Official on practically each nuisance property subject.

Mayor Steve Harding says the workforce is about greater than enforcement. He says they spend quite a lot of time ensuring folks have protected, sanitary dwelling environments, typically coordinating volunteer clean-up efforts themselves.

Heaton, a Sioux Falls native, has been a member of the Pierre Police power since 2014. Previous to changing into the Group Useful resource Officer in 2017, Heaton served as a patrol officer.