Silver & Wright LLP is proud to announce that Partner Valerie Escalante Troesh has recently been designated as a Certified Code Officer Safety Specialist (COSS) through the Code Enforcement Officer Safety Foundation (CEOSF). Valerie is CEOSF’s volunteer legal director and is committed to promoting safety in the code enforcement field.
As a COSS, Valerie will continue to educate her colleagues and clients about safety best practices and will work to make their jobs as safe as possible. Valerie has been instrumental in helping jurisdictions throughout the state craft their safety protocols in light of the passing of Senate Bill 296, requiring local jurisdictions to develop safety standards appropriate for the code enforcement officers employed in their jurisdiction. In January of 2022, Valerie authored, “California’s Newly Enacted Law Requires Code Enforcement Safety Standards–Model for Other Jurisdictions Nationally,” which is an article about Senate Bill 296. Valerie has also helped jurisdictions obtain restraining orders against individuals making threats of violence against code and law enforcement personnel and address safety threats involving significant code enforcement cases.
“Obtaining the COSS certification was the next logical step in helping serve the community. The COSS certification put into clear and simple terms best practices to ensure officer safety, from mindset, situational awareness, making contact with potential threats, and de-escalation tactics, to handling violent encounters. Not only is this information critical to the code enforcement profession as a whole but also for us lawyers who work with code enforcement professionals daily to advise on code enforcement cases and help craft safety standards. On occasions, we also attend inspections and meet with the public on code enforcement cases, so having the COSS certification gives me tools I can implement when confronted with dangers in the field. This is a great program and I’m so glad I was able to invest the time into earning the COSS certification with such an outstanding non-profit as CEOSF!“
CEOSF is a non-profit organization that consists of volunteer members whose goal is to promote code enforcement officer safety throughout the nation. CEOSF provides a resource to ensure officers meet the highest standards of professionalism within their designated fields.
CEOSF President Justin Edson stated that “the foundation is made up of volunteers around the country that serve their communities and also spend their free time helping this noble cause. The international training program known as the code officer safety specialist program is focused on providing 15 hours of officer safety training to the building, fire, code, health, and housing professionals. We are ecstatic that nearly 300 professionals across the country have gone through the training from directors, to building officials, to inspectors, to permit technicians. This is a training program supported by the International Code Council (ICC) and many state associations. On behalf of the foundation, I would like to congratulate Valerie Escalante Troesh on completing this important program!”
Valerie’s choice to pursue this certification is a testament to her dedication to safety in the code enforcement field, and she is proud to have earned it and so is Silver & Wright LLP. We are grateful for Ms. Escalante’s consistent commitment to her field.