Pubdate: Mon, 08 Oct 2007
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2007 The Edmonton Journal
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: Trish Audette
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

LANDLORDS TAUGHT TO LOCK OUT CRIME

Police Advise Steps For Crime-Free Multi-Housing

EDMONTON - There will never be enough police officers to deal with 
every landlord-tenant dispute in town, Const. Dale Brenneis says.

But the Edmonton police officer has a three-step program to keep 
tenants on meth from even getting in the door -- long before they 
start partying loudly, urinating in hallways or bringing home 
sex-trade workers.

Brenneis co-ordinates the police service's crime-free multi-housing 
program, designed to help property managers make good decisions about 
keeping apartment and condo buildings safe.

This week he will be among 520 delegates from around the world 
gathering in Banff for a three-day crime reduction conference. On 
Thursday, he will present his program's principles as part of a 
session on making subsidized housing safe.

"It teaches best practices (for) rental properties on how to attract 
the better tenants," he says. "Once you join my program, you have a 
police contact all the time. You have me."

A two-day session, to start, introduces property owners to gang and 
drug investigators so they learn to spot marijuana grow operations 
and residents clearly tied to organized crime.

Then, Brenneis goes to the properties and evaluates site safety -- 
whether dead-bolt locks work properly or if there is adequate 
lighting inside and outside a building. If the property meets every 
safety standard, it becomes a crime-free zone. At that point, 
landlords can add an element to their leases which allows them to 
learn about a would-be tenant's criminal activities -- or throw the 
renter out for bringing crime home.

Eloise Cameron manages LeJardin Apartments on 110th Street and 98th 
Avenue. She joined the program when it started six years ago, not 
because she was seeing much crime but because she wanted to keep it that way.

"It works great," she says. "And it would work for anybody as long as 
they're willing to put in the time, spend the money and educate the tenants."

For example, Cameron says, tenants get to know each other better 
through the program, which allows them to recognize who to let inside 
the building and who to leave outside.

"If it was your own house in the suburbs, you wouldn't let just 
anyone into the front door."

Since 2001, the Edmonton police service has certified 96 buildings as 
crime-free zones. By the end of the year, Brenneis hopes all 130 
Capital Region Housing sites will be certified. The starting cost of 
the program is $150 for the initial course.

"Just because you're a low-income person doesn't mean you have to 
live around crime," Brenneis says.

The Banff crime conference is being organized for the first time by 
Alberta's solicitor general's department. Co-chairman Curtis Clarke 
says academics, police officers and community organizers from across 
Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Caribbean and New 
Zealand are expected to participate.

"It's quite a remarkable opportunity to bring so many people together 
to share their ideas," he says.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman