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ORDINANCE: O-2007-28
SUBJECT: Amending Title 1 of the Lakewood Municipal Code pertaining to penalties for violations, amending Title 5 of the Lakewood Municipal Code pertaining to business licenses and regulations, and amending Title 9 of the Lakewood Municipal Code pertaining to public peace and safety.
RECOMMENDATION: Mayor and City Council approve the proposed ordinance.
SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND OF SUBJECT MATTER:
The criminal provisions contained in Title 9 of the Lakewood Municipal Code are periodically updated in order to reflect the legislative changes made to the state criminal laws. The proposed ordinance amends Title 1 pertaining to penalties for violations, Title 5 pertaining to business licenses and regulations, and Title 9, pertaining to public peace and safety, by making the following changes:
• Definition of domestic violence. The proposed amendment mirrors a recently enacted change to the definition of domestic violence contained in state law. The definition of domestic violence has been expanded to include any crime against an animal when used as a method of coercion, control, punishment, intimidation, or revenge directed against a person with whom the actor is or has been involved in an intimate relationship.
• Definition of fixed price. The proposed amendment corrects a typographical error in the definition of the term "fixed price" as used in Chapter 5.24 pertaining to the licensing of pawnbrokers. The word "not" was mistakenly left out of the definition. A fixed price in a contract to purchase shall not exceed one-fifth of the original purchase price for each month plus the original purchase price. This definition complies with state law.
• Videotape and photograph requirements. Pawnbrokers are currently required
to videotape all transactions, including those that do not result in a contract
for purchase or purchase transaction. The proposed amendment would require pawnbrokers
to digitally photograph the face of each customer who enters into a purchase
transaction or contract for purchase. Generally the images obtained from the
surveillance tapes are of such poor quality that they are not helpful when trying
to make identifications of the person who conducted the pawn transaction. A
still photo of the person's face will provide the police department with the
investigative ability to compare the photo of the person pawning merchandise
with the driver's license as a means of doing a preliminary identification.
The majority of pawnbrokers take such digital photographs voluntarily.
• Increase in value thresholds for property crimes. The felony minimum
on property crimes (theft, theft by receiving, theft of rental property, fraud
by check, and criminal mischief) has been raised from $500 or more to $1000
or more. Anything less than $1000 is now a misdemeanor offense. This change
in state law applies to all criminal offenses occurring on or after July 1,
2007. The proposed ordinance amends all the property crimes contained in Title
9 to reflect this statutory change; municipal court will now have jurisdiction
over all property crimes with a value of under $1000. The increase to these
value based crimes was passed by the legislature as a cost-saving measure to
reduce the costs of imprisonment and to adjust for the inflationary changes.
The felony minimums had not been increased by the legislature since 1998.
• Possession of marijuana and public display, consumption, or use of marijuana. The proposed amendment to these two penal offenses expands the jurisdiction of the municipal court to include any offenses involving less than eight ounces of marijuana instead of merely less than one ounce of marijuana. Offenses involving eight ounces or more of marijuana are punishable as felony offenses.
• Public indecency. The proposed amendment expands the prohibition against public indecency to include lewd fondling or caressing of oneself while in a public place. As currently written, public indecency prohibits only acts of sexual intercourse, lewd exposure, or lewd fondling or caressing of another in public when the conduct may reasonably be expected to be viewed by members of the public. This change would prohibit persons from fondling, lewdly fondling, or caressing themselves, either clothed or unclothed, while in public.
• Definition of gravity knife. This proposed amendment updates the definition of gravity knife due to a recently enacted change in the state definition. This amends the definition of a gravity knife to eliminate the requirement that the gravity knife when released is locked in place by means of a button, spring, lever, or other device. The proposed definition will encompass butterfly knives. A gravity knife is illegal to possess.
DATE OF FIRST READING: August 27, 2007
DATE OF SECOND READING: September 10, 2007
ORIGINATED BY: Police Department
STAFF PERSON RESPONSIBLE: Janet Young, Deputy City Attorney, 303-987-7102
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED: Ordinance
O-2007-28
Redline Version
SUBMITTED BY:
Ronald R. Burns, Chief of Police
REVIEWED BY:
Joni Inman, Director, Mayor and City Manager's Office
Michael J. Rock, City Manager
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