[RPPTL LandTen] Crime-free apartment program starting in Orlando

[Greg Hass]

I thought this article in today's Orlando Sentinel might be of interest
to the committee members:

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/os-orlando-crime-free-multihou
sing-20110130,0,3406881.story

 

Crime-free apartment program starting in Orlando

Orlando police will introduce a national crime-free multi-housing
program to the city's apartment complexes in an effort to stifle crime

 

By Bianca Prieto, Orlando Sentinel 

10:15 p.m. EST, January 30, 2011

Listen up criminals - it's about to get a lot harder to rent in The City
Beautiful.

Orlando Police Department is gearing up for its latest initiative to
combat crime at local apartment complexes by adopting the Crime Free
Multi-Housing program.

The three-prong national program makes it easier for landlords to evict
problem tenants - especially renters or their guests who commit criminal
acts.

The program works this way: Complexes sign up for the program with OPD;
managers go through special training; the complex earns security
certification; and an addendum is inserted into the lease, stating
residents or their guests will not engage in criminal activity while
living there.

When a tenant commits a crime in Orlando, their names and addresses go
into a database made available to apartment managers who have the
ability to check names at will.

If a tenant's name pops up, property managers then have a right to start
an eviction immediately for violating the terms of the lease.

While the program is new to Orlando, the initiative was started in the
early 1990s by an Arizona police officer who was tired of responding to
the same problem complexes involving the same people.

Locally, law-enforcement officers feel that same pain.

"This program is [aimed at] squeezing out all the people who just don't
want to do right, so good people can have a nice, quiet place to live,"
said Officer Derwin Bradley, who was tasked with starting program in
Orlando. "Some families move from property to property just wreaking
havoc."

'It's legal to discriminate'

Police plan to officially roll out the program later this week with a
ceremony attended by the mayor and chief of police at the Fountains at
Millenia.

But police say it's already showing promise.

Last month, Bradley noticed a tenant at one complex was arrested in
connection to a car break-in at another involved in the program.

Officers say Leroy Ebanks, 21, and another man broke into a car but ran
when they were confronted by the owner when he returned home from work.
Police caught up to Ebanks and the second man, but both denied breaking
in. The car owner identified them, according to a police report.

Bradley checked into Ebanks' criminal history, which showed he has been
arrested in the past on gun and drug charges. Bradley turned over
information to the complex Ebanks lived in, and management started the
eviction process.

Timothy Zehring, the former Arizona police officer who founded the
program, said cities that utilize the program have seen 15 to 20 percent
reduction in crime at participating complexes.

Since the program's inception, it has exploded.

Zehring said he has trained upward of 15,000 police officers in 12
countries about crime free multi-housing. Some cities, like Las Vegas
<http://www.orlandosentinel.com/topic/us/nevada/clark-county/las-vegas-P
LGEO100101101011248.topic> , Nev., have even adopted city ordinances
based on CFMH.

He says it works because it gives landlords authority to get rid of
criminals who cause or invite problems.

 

We teach them it's legal to discriminate - yes, I said discriminate -
based on criminal history," Zehring said. "We didn't choose our gender;
what country we were born in...that's why those are protected classes.
If a person chooses to cook meth, sell crack or do armed robberies,
that's a different thing altogether."

Managers can search

Soon, managers at participating Orlando complexes will be able to do
their own searches on current and prospective residents.

"It benefits the whole community," said Nathalie Adarve, a leasing agent
at the Fountains. "It will increase our knowledge."

Adarve said she plans to check the database every morning and is excited
about the new tool to make the complex safer.

So far, Bradley has been manually entering names and addresses into the
database managers will use. It's a lot of work for one officer, but he
has hopes the program will grow and develop into something bigger.

In the future, he'd like to see OPD have a unit dedicated to CFMH
similar to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office - where two sergeants and
two six-officer squads are dedicated full-time the program there.

Jacksonville Lt. Jimmy Ricks, who oversees the unit, said the program
has brought a "remarkable" decrease in criminal activity since it
started there in 2008. Crime stats were not immediately available.

"Calls for service have been reduced," Ricks said, adding that the
staffing has grown because of the success.

The Orlando program will start with Fountains at Millenia in February.
Six more will follow - Ridge Club Apartments, Commander Place
Apartments, Danube Apartments, Willow Key Apartments, Rosemont Country
Club Apartments and the Landings of Millenia.

Bianca Prieto can be reached at bprieto at orlandosentinel.com or
407-420-5620.

 

 

Greg Hass, Senior Counsel

 

Office of Law & Policy | FloridaRealtors(r)
7025 Augusta National Drive, Orlando, FL 32822
talk: 407.438.1400, ext. 2421
visit: http://www.floridarealtors.org

 

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