Crime Free Multi-Housing Program
 Rental
properties present a unique challenge for law enforcement. The
typical Neighborhood Watch approach to residents in single-family
homes is not easily adapted to rental communities. In single-family
homes, owners generally have a large cash investment in the purchase
of their home. This motivates owners to a greater concern about
crime in their neighborhoods. With rising crime rates come lowering
property values.
An owner of a single family home might also be looking at a long
term of residency. Typically, homeowners have a thirty-year mortgage
for their property. Home is where they come each day and perhaps, to
raise a family. There tends to be a lot of pride and ownership of
their property. When crime problems begin to appear, owners are very
likely to organize Neighborhood Watch activities to protect the
long-term interests of their families.
In rental properties, the communities tend to be much more
transient. Most often, residents sign a six-month, nine-month, or a
twelve-month lease for a rental property. In many cases, owners
don't even require leases, and residency is based on a
month-to-month agreement. This allows for an occupant to move very
easily if they feel crime has reached a level they will not
tolerate. It is easier to move away from crime than to confront it.
The police have historically fought a losing battle with
Neighborhood Watch in multi-family rental properties. In January of
1992, the Mesa Police Department was faced with a difficult
decision. To no longer offer Neighborhood Watch training in rental
properties, or to develop a new concept for crime prevention in the
rental communities.
The result was the CRIME FREE MULTI-HOUSING PROGRAM. This bold,
new program had no precedent. The program's concept was to take a
multi-faceted approach to crime prevention. A unique coalition of
police, property managers and residents of rental properties, the
program was to be an on-going program with a three-phase approach to
address all of the opportunities of crime in rental property.
The program was designed to include a certification process,
never before offered by a police department. The incentives of
police issued signs, certificates, and advertising privileges
provided immediate interest in the program.
The development of the Crime Free Lease Addendum proved to be the
backbone of the CRIME FREE MULTI-HOUSING PROGRAM. This addendum to
the lease agreement lists specific criminal acts that, if committed
on the property, will result in the immediate termination of the
resident's lease.
The CRIME FREE MULTI-HOUSING PROGRAM achieved almost instant
success. In rental properties with the highest crime rates, the
immediate results showed up to a 90% reduction in police calls for
service. Even in the best properties reductions of 15% to 20% were
not uncommon.
The CRIME FREE MULTI-HOUSING PROGRAM began to spread nationally
after the first year, and internationally after the second year. The
CRIME FREE MULTI-HOUSING PROGRAM has been a success all across the
United States and Canada.
The CRIME FREE MULTI-HOUSING PROGRAM is successful because it
approaches crime on many fronts. The police cannot solve crime
problems alone. Neither can the management or residents of rental
properties. But by working together, the end result has been the
most successful approach to crimes in rental communities.
There are three (3) ways criminal activity comes into a rental
community. The criminal lives there, they visit friends there, or
they come to the property to commit crimes. The CRIME FREE
MULTI-HOUSING PROGRAM addresses all three of these possibilities. By
not renting to people with criminal intent, they not only reduce the
likelihood of crime in the community, they also reduce the number of
visitors who come to the property with criminal intent, i.e., to
purchase drugs.
For the opportunistic criminal, the use of C.P.T.E.D. (Crime
Prevention Through Environmental Design) has been used to combat
crimes that might occur in the parking lots or common areas. This
includes assaults, robberies, drive-by shootings, and auto thefts.
If the police, property managers and residents will make a
dedicated effort to crime prevention and the CRIME FREE
MULTI-HOUSING PROGRAM, the outlook for success is extremely high.
Living In Des Plaines |
Your Local Government |
Your City Services
Economic Development
| Online City Reference
Desk
Search |
Site Map |
Home
Send feedback to the City by clicking
here.
Click here to report a website technical issue.
This site is best viewed in
Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher or Firefox 2.0 or higher.
City of Des Plaines
1420 Miner St.
Des Plaines, IL 60016
847-391-5300 |
This site has documents available
in PDF format. If your browser does
not have the Acrobat Reader
plug-in that is required to view
these documents, click here
to
download a free copy of this software. |
Site
Design/Development by
 |
Site
Use Policy
All information © 2008 Des Plaines, Illinois
|
|
Crime Prevention & Other Programs
