Pierre Police Officer Drew Heaton has been named the Code Enforcement Officer of the year by the South Dakota Association of Code Enforcement.
Officer Heaton was nominated by Pierre Police Chief Jason Jones and selected by the Association for his work mitigating property maintenance violations.
“Property maintenance enforcement is tricky business, often requiring a lot of patience and interpersonal skills,” said Chief Jones. “Drew uses compassion and heart to bring voluntary compliance to nuisance properties, and our community is all the better for it.”
Officer Heaton was caught off guard when his name was announced as the Officer of the Year.
“They asked me to say a few words. ‘Thank you’ was about all I could muster,” said Officer Heaton.
“Now that I’ve had a minute to collect my thoughts I’ll tell you this was a team effort. The award and the progress we’ve made wouldn’t have happened without the City Building Department.”
Heaton says that he works side-by-side with Andrew Mentele, City Building Inspector, and Matt Elberson, City Building Official on nearly every nuisance property issue.
“Our team is about so much more than enforcement,” said Pierre Mayor Steve Harding. “They spend a lot of time making sure people have safe and sanitary living environments, often coordinating volunteer clean-up efforts themselves.”
Officer Heaton, a Sioux Falls native, has been a member of the Pierre Police force since 2014. Prior to becoming the Community Resource Officer in 2017, Officer Heaton served as a patrol officer.