Chief Birbeck: Child, pet safety, code enfocement

Olney Police Chief Dan Birbeck urged citizens to care for both children and pets during the summer months, citing recent cases of neglect.

In his weekly briefing, Chief Birbeck noted that Olney police stopped a motorist from a nearby town who appeared to be driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol with a toddler riding in an unsecured child safety seat.

“It’s extremely important that children are buckled in and also the seat’s buckled in, but even more important is not putting your child in a situation where the operator of the motor vehicle is intoxicated to the point that they are driving with no headlights in the middle of a highway in a turn lane,” he said. “That could have had a horrible ending.”

The driver also left two other children unattended at home, Chief Birbeck said. The children were taken into protective custody and the driver was arrested and taken to Young County Jail, he said.

In a second incident, Olney police responded to a home where a parent left a two year old and a four year old unattended, he said.

The parent was charged with abandoning and endangering a child with intent to return, he said.

“This person also went to jail and we had to get [Child Protective Services] involved so that opens up a whole mess for them,” he said. “We have zero tolerance when it comes to victimizing our children here and we will use every means available to us to hold people accountable who do that stuff,” he said.

He also warned parents not to leave children unattended in cars, especially those under five years of age.

If we find you doing that even for a second you’re running into a store and leave an infant or a toddler unattended, that’s going to get you in trouble,” he said. “That’s dangerous.”

Code enforcement ramps up

Olney Police Department has made a push recently to address code violations across town by sending out letters and placing door hangers on violators’ homes, Chief Birbeck said.

He clarified that the letter and door hanger “is not a citation -- it is just a reminder or a warning that you need to get this taken care of.”

The letters and door hangers usually include a date by which property owners must either remedy the code violation or contact code enforcement Officer Hollie Hawkins to make arrangements to fix the problem, he said.

The police department want to work with citizens who contact them.

“There are all kinds of reasons people have a hardship for not getting things done,” he said. “This is just about getting people to comply and mow their yards. We are not trying to hem people up unless they absolutely refuse to cooperate with us.”

Demolition program restarts

The City will restart a program to condemn and demolish derelict structures this week, after resolving issues getting dumpsters from Waste Connections, Chief Birbeck said.

The City Council will review 11 dilapidated properties and vote on whether to approve their demolition, he said.

The City temporarily halted the program to condemn and demolish about 50 properties after the Olney police officer assigned to code enforcement took a job in another ciyt.

By tearing down the uninhabitable structures, the City hopes to cut down on crime and make way for new housing.

Tree trimming requirements

Chief Birbeck warned that residents whose trees block roadways or traffic signs will soon hear from code enforcement.

“It is the property owner’s responsibility to trim the canopy off the road,” he said. “The canopy must be 14 feet above the road -- if you are not doing it, code enforcement is going to stop and pay you a visit.”

New Police Station The Olney Police Department soon will have a new headquarters in the former Ranger College building, Chief Birbeck said.

The OPD raised funds from private donors and from a grant to remodel the interior of the building adjacent to the Olney Civic Center at 210 S. Grand Ave., he said.

“We have already started [demolishing] the old inside and we have already raised funds for the material and the labor has been donated,” he said.

Animal complaints Chief Birbeck cautioned dog owners to keep their animals confined or on leashes after a spate of “animal at large” complaints.

“If your animal bites someone or another animal ... the City has the ability to deem animals dangerous,” he said. “If it bites somebody, I don’t have much choice but to do that.”

Owners whose free roaming or off-leash dogs attack a person or another animal will be held accountable for the animal, he said.

Owners whose animals are deemed dangerous by the City must meet Health and Safety Code requirements to keep their pets inside city limits, he said.

Those requirements include restraining the dog inside a City-approved enclosure and purchasing an insurance policy of $100,000, he said.

“Those policies are sky-high for dogs that have been deemed dangerous,” he said.

Dangerous dogs who are not kept confined inside City limits can be seized by the City and euthanized, he said.

Owners who cannot afford the insurance or cannot meet the requirements to confine the animal can relocate the animal outside city limits or can surrender it to Olney Animal Control, he said.

“What’s sad is these animals are just being animals and we have irresponsible animal owners who are causing this situation,” he said. “Please be responsible. Do the right thing -- make sure your animals are on leashes and not running at large.”