Appendix A: Summary of Responses to Drug Dealing in Privately Owned Apartment Complexes
The table below summarizes the responses to drug dealing in privately owned apartment complexes, the mechanism by which they are intended to work, the conditions under which they ought to work best, and some factors you should consider before implementing a particular response. There are more responses listed here than in the text where only those responses that have been evaluated through research are discussed. It is critical that you tailor responses to local circumstances, and that you can justify each response based on reliable analysis. In most cases, an effective strategy will involve implementing several different responses. Law enforcement responses alone are seldom effective in reducing or solving the problem.
| Summary of Responses to Drug Dealing in Privately Owned Apartment Complexes | |||
| Response | How It Works | Works Best If... | Considerations |
| Enforcing a city ordinance or state law requiring owners to address conditions that foster drug markets on private property | Increases the owner's risk, and removes the owner's excuses for not addressing conditions facilitating the market | …sanctions are part of the ordinance/law, and the city attorney or prosecutor is willing to proceed | Requires local or state legislation |
| Sending a letter to the property owner from the police chief | Removes the owner's excuse of ignorance, and increases the risk for ignoring the problem | …the letter outlines legal responsibility and potential consequences for failure to act, as well as the value of improved management practices and environmental changes in eliminating drug markets | Letter must be based on state or city law requiring owner action |
| Supplying the owner with calls- for-service data for his or her property, and with comparison data for well-run nearby properties | Removes the owner's excuse that he or she was unaware of the problem and its extent, and underscores the need for the owner to improve management practices | …used in combination with the above responses | If the owner is "in cahoots" with the dealer then police must keep from the owner the names of those complaining to the police about the dealing |
| Meeting with the owner and outlining the costs associated with allowing drug dealing on the property | Removes the owner's excuse of ignorance | …the owner is solvent, or community development housing upgrade loans are available | In certain circumstances, the owner may perceive that the costs of making improvements may be higher for the owner than the financial costs associated with allowing the drug dealing |
Establishing a landlord training program§ § John Campbell collaborated with the Portland (Oregon) Police Bureau to create and deliver the first police-sponsored landlord training curricula in the United States. Campbell, who fought a crack house (place where crack cocaine is sold and/or consumed) operating on his block, conducted intensive research, including interviews of property owners, and concluded, "Most landlords are not skilled in the prevention of illegal activity, but are willing to learn. [Property owners] prefer to act responsibly, but lack the tools to do so" (Sampson and Scott 2000 [Full text]). John Campbell can be reached through his web site at www.cdri.com.
| Removes the owner's excuse of ignorance | …tailored to the laws within one's jurisdiction | An apartment managers' association within the community may be able to offer the training. |
| Establishing a crime-free multi- housing program§§ §§ For further information about the crime-free multi-housing program, contact the Mesa (Arizona) Police Department.
| Removes the owner's excuse of inability to address illegal activity, raises the owner's awareness of the legal consequences for failure to act, and provides incentives for the owner to operate a crime-free complex | …tailored to the laws within one's jurisdiction, and the incentive to the owner is meaningful | An apartment managers' association within the community may be able to monitor and manage the initiative. |
| Engaging an apartment managers' association to work with the owner to upgrade the owners property management skills | Increases the risk to the owner for failing to remedy conditions at the property, and removes the owner's excuse that he or she does not know how to address or is unaware of the problem | …the association is competent and well-regarded | It would be unfair to have an association deal with a property owner who is behaving criminally; the association should address only those cases in which the owner is not suspected of collusion |
| Running credit checks of prospective tenants | Removes the excuse for tenant dealing, and weeds out drug dealers whose income is not reported | …the credit report also documents court- ordered evictions and past addresses of prospective tenants | Must be done in a nondiscriminatory way |
| Verifying prospective tenants' income sources | Employers are called (using phone numbers from the 411 directory, not from the prospective tenant). If the prospective tenant is self employed, copies of bank statements and tax returns are requested. This removes excuses for tenant dealing | …the system is set up to verify the income of all potential tenants | Must be done in a nondiscriminatory way |
| Doing a criminal history check of all prospective tenants | Removes excuses for tenant dealing | …an apartment owners' association has established a legal system for doing so | Some jurisdictions permit this; others do not |
| Doing reference checks of prospective tenants' prior tenancies | Calls to prior landlords of a prospective tenant to ascertain if criminal activity was evident remove excuses for tenant dealing. For Section 8 renters, inquiries should be made to the local housing authority | …there is an apartment owners' association that facilitates doing so | Calls to the tenant's current landlord may not yield any information; however, interviews of previous landlords might |
| Establishing a no-cash policy—the property owner does not accept cash for deposits or monthly rent | Prevents those engaged in an illegal, cash-only business from residing at the property | …the owner establishes the policy in writing | Some law-abiding people mistrust banks and pay only by cash |
| Adding a drug addendum to lease agreements | Removes excuses and eases the eviction process by putting tenants on notice that drug activity will not be tolerated | …the property owner enforces it | State law may require that property owners give tenants notice of any new provisions to the lease |
| Conducting police surveillance from a vacant apartment in the complex or from another vantage point | Removes the police or property owner excuse of lack of knowledge of the conditions that facilitate the market | …the surveillance focuses not just on the players, but also on the conditions that facilitate the market (e.g., parking, design, lack of natural surveillance) | The vantage point from the apartment may not give police a full sense of the market |
| Surveying tenants | Raises the risk for dealers and buyers if tenants are willing to provide details about them, peak market times, and specific apartments or outdoor locations where dealing is occurring | …a plainclothes officer does the surveying and leaves a business card with a number that tenants fearful of being seen speaking to police can call | If tenants' primary language is not English, several translated versions of the survey may be needed |
| Having tenants document illegal activity | Logs kept for use in civil and criminal court raise the risks to dealers and remove the criminal justice system's excuses concerning the chronic nature of the market | …police can follow up, and the information is specific and useful enough | Need to ensure that the sources of information are not discoverable in court |
| Preventing access to vacant apartments if they are used for dealing or taking drugs | Removes dealers' and users' excuse for being on the property, and increases the risk of a possession arrest because drugs have to be carried off the property | …the apartments are checked frequently for break-ins | Boarded-up apartments are not aesthetically pleasing |
| Posting "No Trespassing" signs | Removes buyers' and nonresident dealers' excuse for being on the property | …the property owner signs over the right to enforce to police and gives police an updated list of tenants' names | Time-consuming for the police; may need semi-constant maintenance if other remedies are not used in combination |
| Improving property access control and having restricted parking for tenants | Restricts buyers' and nonresident dealers' access to the property. Tenant-only parking deters buyers from entering the property in vehicles; eliminating visitor spots has a similar effect. Buyers have to scout for neighborhood parking, and are at increased risk because they have to leave the property on foot, with drugs on them | …tenants agree to the change and do not try to sabotage the system | Financial costs |
| Establishing owner expectations for property management and security staff | Removes the staff's excuses that they are unaware of their responsibility in addressing illegal activity on the property | …expectations are in writing and reflected in job descriptions and performance evaluations | Should be done in combination with other cited management practices |
| Having property management staff keep an in-house log of illegal activity on the property | Removes the owner's excuse of ignorance and provides documentation for eviction | …manage-ment or police responses to the activity are also detailed in the log | Log must be safeguarded from theft |
| Engaging the property mortgagor to prevent the property from losing its value because of entrenched drug dealing be legally allowed | The bank or lending agency (holding the mortgage on the property) is informed about the drug market and provided with data on calls for police service and arrests; criminal activity on the property removes the owner's monetary excuses for not acting | …the mortgagor requires that the owner develop an improved safety security plan to address the drug market | Disclosure of information must |
| Enforcing codes | Removes the owner's excuses if code violations at the property facilitate the drug market, forces the owner to gain compliance, and increases the owner's financial risk if he or she does not comply | …the code enforcement agency understands that certain code violations facilitate drug markets, and is willing to assist | Should use code enforcement nondiscriminatorily when targeting those conditions that facilitate the drug market |
| Detecting and arresting tenant drug dealers | The use of undercover buys and the issuance of search warrants for active drug apartments increase dealers' risk | …in an open market; in closed markets, police must have enough information to lawfully gain access to an apartment | Once police gain lawful access, it may be appropriate to bring in other agencies such as health, codes, child or adult protective services, and animal control |
| Limiting potential buyers' ability to cruise through the area in search of open drug markets | Rerouting and managing traffic, redesigning roads and dead-ending streets so they're inaccessible from main thoroughfares increase potential buyers' effort, and also increase their risk of getting caught by limiting the number of escape routes | …residents are committed to redesign to eliminate dealing | Potential inconvenience to residents |
| Prohibiting or limiting on-street parking | "Resident-only parking" on the street outside of the apartment complex forces buyers to park and walk farther to access the market, and increases the risk to buyers because they must return to their vehicle with drugs in hand | …residents are committed to parking restrictions to eliminate dealing | Residents with legitimate visitors may find this onerous |
| Using asset forfeiture | Forfeiture of cars or property used by dealers increases dealers' efforts and decreases their rewards | …prosecutors are willing to apply the law | Must have a local, state or federal law authorizing it |
| Having legitimate tenants attend court hearings (court watch) | Court watch at judicial hearings of dealers and buyers discourages the criminal justice system from treating drug dealing and use as only a personal harm or "victimless" crime | …more than a few tenants attend, creating safety in numbers, and the judge tells the accused dealer or buyer that any retaliation will result in greater punishment | Potential intimidation of law abiding tenants |
| Using vertical prosecution | Assigning one prosecutor to all cases arising from the same apartment complex removes the excuse that the problem is not chronic, and increases the risk to an ongoing drug operation | …the prosecutor's office is familiar with the use of vertical prosecutions, and judges are willing to approach caseloads this way | Judges may prefer random assignment of cases |
| Having the prosecution seek court-ordered, monitored treatment of chronic users who buy at the apartment complex | As a condition of probation or sentencing, raises users' risk through consistent monitoring and jail time if caught, and removes their excuse for being on the property, taking them out of the drug market | …combined with geographic probation to keep users away from the particular market | Resource-intensive |
| Using surveillance cameras | Raises the risk that dealers will be identified and caught, and potentially raises the risk of prosecution due to the strength of evidence | …cameras are bullet- resistant, dealers' identities are clear, and the evidence is usable in court | Cost and monitoring of cameras |
| Enforcing tax laws | Decreases dealers' rewards through tax sanctions for unreported income or operation of an illegal business | …federal and state officials are willing to act | The criteria that must be met for state and federal authorities to intervene must be arranged in advance |
| Providing space for alternative legal activities on the property | Counters or overrides the use of outdoor space for drug dealing, removes dealers' and users' excuse for being on the property, and increases the risk to dealers and users through increased natural surveillance of the premises | …tenants are involved in selecting activities and are willing to participate | Participants' safety |
| Launching an information campaign targeting buyers at the apartment complex | Information distributed to buyers concerning overdoses, chemicals used in cutting drugs, and the risk of arrest at the complex removes excuses and increases buyers' perception of risks; increases buyers' effort, as they have to search for less risky markets | …information is available about the type of drugs sold at the complex | Determine who should distribute the information—the owner, police, law abiding tenants. |
| Having law- abiding tenants petition the property owner | Pressures the owner to address the market conditions, removes excuses and decreases rewards if the owner fails to comply | …tenants agree to all move out if the owner fails to take action within a certain amount of time, and this is stated in the petition | Availability of other rentals at comparable pricess |
| Obtaining a temporary restraining order against the property owner | A court order restraining the owner from operating the property in a way that facilitates drug dealing, and requiring that the owner make management and environmental changes to address the market. Removes the owner's excuses, reduces rewards and increases the owner's risk if in noncompliance | …the court is willing to apply the law this way | May need to educate the court about the legality of doing so |
| Taking civil action for monetary damages | Several cities have a "Safe Streets Now" program in which residents of drug markets sue property owners in civil court for monetary damages caused by such things as the disruption of residents' peaceful enjoyment of their property.† This approach reduces the reward for owners who allow activity at the expense of neighbors and their property values † "Safe Streets Now" programs operate in several cities, including San Diego. | …residents are trained and organized to follow through | Seed money for starting the program |
| Applying nuisance abatement | Police, tenants or neighbors file civil action against the property owner for nuisance abatement (temporarily or permanently taking the property away from the owner) if the owner fails to address conditions facilitating the drug market. Removes the owner's excuses for poor management and decreases the owner's rewards | …local government leaders are willing to follow through if police file the case | City or state law must permit doing so |
| Taking civil action for foreseeable consequences | Tenants bring civil tort action against the property owner, asserting the owner's liability for operating the premises in a way that is sure to cause them harm. The suit alleges the owner is responsible for providing security against foreseeable crimes.§ Removes the owner's excuses, increases the owner's risks and decreases the owner's rewards § To prove liability, a tenant must establish that (1) the property owner had a duty to provide reasonable security; (2) the property owner breached the duty; and (3) this breach of duty was the cause in fact and (4) was the foreseeable cause of (5) the tenant's injury or harm (Kennedy and Hupp 1998:25). Other civil actions might include those for maintaining a nuisance, causing loss of quiet enjoyment or inflicting emotional distress. | …there are pervasive, repeat calls for service about drug dealing, and the owner fails to make needed changes | Educating tenants about the law |
| Holding community antidrug marches at the property owner's home | Potentially galvanizes community support to engage the owner in improving property management practices, and reduces the owner's rewards | …organized by tenants | In some communities, there are anti-picketing ordinances that should be reviewed first |
| Getting media attention changes | Draws media attention to the drug market and management practices if the property owner actively resists taking remedial action, and potentially reduces the rewards for owning property in the community | …organized by tenants | If the owner complies and makes changes, the media should be invited back to show those |
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Drug Dealing in Privately Owned Apartment Complexes
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