By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-814142.mp3
Dallas, TX – Dallas wants to escalate the war on crime-ridden apartment complexes next month. The program is aimed at apartments such as the one where a Dallas Police Officer was shot to death Tuesday night.
The Neighborhood Policing program is up for approval by the Dallas City Council next week, with a February 1 start date. Part of it is voluntary, but it would be mandatory for apartments with a certain crime rate. Police would enforce crime rate reduction measures, such as background and credit checks on all tenants, lighting, landscaping, gates and fencing, limited access to common areas and crime watch meetings. Council member Tennell Atkins says it doesn't go far enough. He says it needs to be mandatory for the apartment owner, not just the apartment manager.
Atkins: The owner does not care about the manager because the manager's responsibility is to make sure that the owner gets his money. The property manager doesn't care, he just has to make sure they get the percentage of people there to make sure the owner gets his money.
Failure to follow through on the crime reduction measures could result in civil or criminal fines up to $2,000.