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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-20-14 Residential Neighborhoods & Health and Public SafetyRESIDENTIAL 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. Councilman Scott asked if the main problem is a concentration of problem people in a complex such as Courtyard, Miami Hills, etc. Officer Keenan said yes that it is a problem, but not always the main one. He explained when they take a call on a crime it doesn't always mean it happened at the complex. For example a traffic chase or maybe a person shot at, may have been called in from the complex street address but the actually occurrence could have been anywhere in the City. But the statistic goes to the address where it ended or was called in from. Officer Lane finished with the report that the owner of Miami Hills was a little rebellious at the beginning of the ordinance but has since put in thousands of dollars at the complex to become in compliance and make the area safer. The management calls quite often to stay in contact with the police department. Uniform Division Chief Scott Ruszkowski then spoke about the improvements at Miami Hills such as lighting comparing it to a "Field of Dreams" type of lighting and the fence improvements. He says there are 3 additional officers on the 10pm to 3am shift that have totaled 73.5 hours for 2 weeks. He also spoke to the idea of a guard shack being too much of an expense and also maybe being a violation of civil public access. He explained the security cameras are motion sensitive and only turn on with activity. The cameras are monitored in an office but the actual recordings are in Chicago. They are trying to set up with an IP address if the owner agrees. No set time for this to happen. Private property laws could apply. He feels they have done a good job with the cameras. Councilman Oliver Davis talked about a ongoing problem with the security people hired and South Bend officers. Chief Ruszkowski said the issue had been addressed and taken care of with the help of Councilman Tim Scott who had taken time to read the 468 pages of the SB officer's duty manual. Chief Ruszkowski also spoke to the calls that come in not reflecting necessarily where incidences occur. He said to look at calls the most dangerous places would be the police station and Memorial Hospital. As to Miami Hills calls since October 15 when the ordinance went into effect. 36 reports, 30 preliminary reports, 6 arrests, 30 evictions . Councilmember Dr. Ferlic wanted to know how many open cases are there from the Miami Hills cases? Chief Ruszkowski replied that would be a question for the Prosecutor's office. Councilman Scott wanted to know if they had a Chronic Nuisance list. The reply was not yet, Miami Hills have been cooperating and working within the ordinance and the ordinance has only been in effective for about 3 months so it is still early. Councilmember Karen L. White now said the council meeting would move on to Item 2 a discussion and update on the Chronic Nuisance Ordinance. Tasha Outlaw Deputy City Attorney introduced herself and said she had been working with Officer Lane on letters that are cc'd to Legal. Also helping out by cross checking with Code Enforcement on property issues. She explained the City is ready to file suits regarding this ordinance asap. Also if the property owners have federal dollars coming in she has been in contact with HUD to notify them of problem properties. Councilwoman Karen L. White said she was happy that legal was taking immediate action on legal suits. Officer Lane said from October 15, 2013 to date there have been 107 property complaints, 27 they are following closely, 7 received warnings, 4 larger properties are on a known problem property list. Councilman Davis asked if Officer Lane needed the council to supply any other helpful updates to the ordinance. Officer Lane said sometimes finding the property owners a bit of a problem. Code Enforcement's records are not always up to date. Attorney Outlaw said the problems stems from some deeds not being recorder correctly or at all. Councilman Tim Scott asked about Officer Lane's workload, has a civilian been hired? Officer Lane replied yes he has an assistant, who also works with crimestoppers. Attorney Outlaw said legal will have a better idea of how things are moving along once the cases are filed. In the mean time they will be working with HUD and other entities like HUD on how to file more suits successfully. Councilman Davis asked what would Officer Lane consider to be successful in 6 months in working with the ordinance in Miami Hills. He replied that 20 calls a month become 0 but in reality if it became 4 to 5 calls that would be a success in his eyes. Chief Ruszkowski gave kudos to all of his officers that report in to Officer Lane. Keith Crain from the Information Technology dept. gave an update that the program went live 2 weeks ago and they are linked up to the ordinance and news release. They are working on the open portal and hope to link to the city and county maps to access current owners of properties. Comments from the public Tony Ruble 736 Hawbaker He had concerns about the security camera which Officer Lane responded to, to Mr. Ruble's satisfaction. Mr. Ruble just hopes this cooperation with the management continues into the summer months coming up. Councilmember White said she believes the enforcing of the ordinance will continue Councilmember Scott says the numbers speak for themselves. The property owners will need to be consistently responsible. Councilmember Davis said we need to give the ordinance more time like a year, and that people's behaviors and the weather do go together. Cristal Brisco Corporate Counsel for the City said they are working with HUD closely, they also work with SIB Housing Authority but HUD is a better entity to help. Councilmember Karen L White closed the meeting by saying the council would be having quarterly updates on all safety ordinances to keep the neighborhoods safe. Meeting Adjourned at 5:57 Respectively submitted, Karen L. White Chairperson, Residential Neighborhood Committee Dr. Fred Ferlic Vice - President Health & Public Safety Meeting 2 handouts attached