Body armor suits donated in honor of slain West Valley City code enforcement officer

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — It’s been almost five years since a West Valley City code enforcement officer was killed on duty. Now, her former co-workers are getting a big donation.

The murder of Jill Robinson has stuck with many people, especially code enforcement officers.

She was the inspiration behind a new non-profit.

“Her tragic murder is what lit a fire under me to really do something and make a change,” said Tim Sun with the Code Officer Safety Foundation.

It’s hard for some people to this day to talk about the horrible murder of Jill Robinson, who was just doing her job as a code enforcement manager.

She responded to a home that had reported clutter in the yard when a man threw gasoline on her and then shot her.

“Even management these days across the nation think that, ‘Oh, code enforcement’s not a dangerous job.’ But look at what has been happening,” Sun said.

He was so struck by what happened to Robinson that he started a foundation to help raise awareness on safety for code enforcement officers.

“Protecting Jill’s work family,” Sun said. “To be able to come up with $7,000 in vests is huge.”

That foundation recently made a massive donation of 10 bullet- and knife-proof body armor suits to West Valley City — the department Robinson worked for.

Her daughters released a statement of gratitude for the vests, saying, “The safety and well-being of our mom’s dear friends means so much to us.”

“I made a promise to Jill’s surviving children that their mother’s death would not be in vein,” Sun said. “And this is just another step in that promise I made to them, and really, to protect our brothers and sisters in code enforcement across the nation.”

The foundation also offers safety lessons to officers who do this work.

They are looking to help as many departments as possible.