by Mindy Aguon

Guam - The Guam Fire and Police Departments have been diligent in issuing citations for various violations of the law and Fire Code. But apparently there are problems when it comes to their classifications of whether the traffic and Fire Code citations are actually misdemeanors that require a prosecutor or just a violation that will require a fine.

A number of traffic citations were thrown out because an attorney wasn't present and fire inspector Captain Joey Manibusan says fire citations are still being issued but aren't being accepted at the court. He explained, "At this time the superior court has ordered the fire department to cease turning in citations to the court. The reason for that is the definition of the violations needs to be clarified as misdemeanors or violations.

"We will continue to write notices of violation and we keep our records of that and we do warn them that this it's a violation and currently a misdemeanor."

For example, an individual who is cited for not having a fire extinguisher at their establishment could be charged with a misdemeanor. Captain Manibusan says the Attorney General's Office and the Guam Legislature are working to properly clarify what violations should be considered a crime and which ones should just be considered a violation with a fine.

In the meantime the fire inspector says the department continues to enforce the fire code as he says it is the number one tool to minimize fire hazards.