02-20-14 Residential Neighborhoods & Health and Public Safety

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RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD AND HEALTH & PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEES FEBRUARY 20, 2014 5:03 P.M. Committee Members Present: Karen L. White, Tim Scott Dr. Fred Ferlic, Tim Scott Other Council Present: Oliver J. Davis Others Present: Kathy Cekanski - Farrand, Janice Talboom, Officer Keenan Lane, Uniform Chief Scott Ruszkowski, Corporate Counsel Cristal Brisco, Deputy Attorney Tasha Outlaw, Keith Crain, City IT Dept., several neighbors from Miami Hills Agenda: 1. Discussion and Update on Miami Hills 2. Discussion and Update on Chronic Nuisance Ordinance Residential Neighborhood Chairperson Karen L. White opened the meeting saying it was a Joint meeting with the Health & Public Safety Committee on a update on how the Chronic Nuisance ordinance is working with Miami Hills and in general. Council Member Tim Scott introduced SBPD officer Keenan Lane who heads up the Chronic Nuisance task force. Officer Lane reported that they have been working with the owner of Miami Hills for the past three months and are pleased with the results. In October after the ordinance was passed they had a discussion with the owner. He then proceeded to first cut down vegetation, improved lighting, bought new motion based security cameras and has increased security with 3 new officers. He reported that Miami Hills has 150 apartments and 20 % of those have been evicted which comes out to 30 apartments. In another 6 to 9 months he believes better things will begin to happen. They have made some good arrests. Councilmember Karen White asked what type of time frames in conducting evictions? Officer Lane replied that they can evict people within 24 to 48 hours depending on the situation. It was explained that in some cases due to Meth labs or drugs it is very costly for the property owner. Councilmember Oliver Davis asked about how much of a problem domestic violence is in apartment complexes? Officer Lane said it was the number 1 problem. He has been in contact with the Family Victims unit and once they are involved a suspect is banned from the complex and a protective order is put on right away. He talked about how hard it is sometimes to do that with victims being afraid to pursue a violence case. Councilman Davis asked if the domestic violence unit was meeting with the tenant group and Officer Lane replied yes. Councilmember Dr. Ferlic asked if there was a way to track where these evicted people go? Do they just go from one complex to another. Officer Keenan Lane said they do not track this.