When dealing with unsafe buildings, code inspectors shouldn’t forget to consider whether criminal charges might be appropriate. A builder in Pennsylvania was recently charged with theft, deceptive practices and other related offenses. Montgomery Media reported that:
“According to articles in a local daily newspaper, the breadth of shoddy workmanship was staggering: The building had exposed electrical wiring, fire escape stairwells built of wood instead of the required steel, stair landings were constructed of particle board, the sprinkler system was inoperable, concrete block walls held together solely by mortar joints, and a garage wall had cracked concrete blocks, and other structural deficiencies were found by inspectors.” http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2010/10/27/springford_reporter_valley_item/news/doc4cc1fe499a784668359492.txt
In criminal cases, the judge can set specific requirements as a condition of probation that may aid the inspector in getting compliance with the code.
It seems that whenever I travel to conduct trainings, I find interesting items in the local press for this blog. My trip to Troy, Michigan last week for SEMBOIA was no exception. The Detroit Free Press had a very good article about using demolition wisely to target high crime areas. http://www.freep.com/article/20100421/NEWS05/4210312/Vacant-Detroit-homes-where-crime-thrives-the-first-to-go It seems the local agencies worked to determine which vacant buildings were located in areas with the highest concentration of homicides, assaults, rapes, robberies and arsons. Instead of tearing down vacant buildings here and there throughout the city, this approach recognizes that vacant buildings breed crime and that targeting specific areas is a better use of the funds available. At a time when funds for demolition quickly run out, it’s an approach that is very smart.
The recent class I taught for the Suburban Law Enforcement Academy at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn was very well attended and the feedback was terrific. Apparently the information covered was very valuable for the audience which was a mixture of police officers and code enforcement personnel. Too often law enforcement officers are intimidated when dealing with corporate entities as defendants, mainly because they don’t understand the procedures that have to be followed. In class, I tried to demystify the corporate process by showing how easy it is to search for corporate information on the Secretary of State website and how to look up ownership at the Recorder of Deeds website. Sometimes law enforcement officers don’t know how to find out who owns property. It can be critical when dealing with rental property. I also discussed how to use condemnation and demolition proceedings when trying to deal with problem properties as well as overcrowding issues and rental inspection ordinances. I’m going to be teaching the class again on February 26, 2010 and may even be taking the “show on the road”. I think law enforcement officials are eager to add new crime fighting tools to their techniques, especially with the number of vacant and abandoned buildings increasing in communities.
While preparing for a workshop I’ll be doing on 11/3/09 at the College of DuPage, Suburban Law Enforcement Academy, on the relationship between law enforcement and code enforcement, I came across a very informative publication at the website of the National Vacant Properties Campaign entitled Vacant Properties: the True Cost to Communities. You can download it at http://www.vacantproperties.org/resources/reports.html It contains research on the relationship between crime and vacant and abandoned properties in neighborhoods along with a very good bibliography.
Tom Pahnke, an inspector for Manhattan, IL, commented on my recent post about people selling things out of their foreclosed homes. His town has a best practices procedure that includes the police department in monitoring these homes. He even notified an attorney for a lender when he noticed people offering items for sale on Craig’s List. The attorney was able to get a restraining order. Tom said he routinely looks at Craig’s List and local papers to see what’s going on. Tom has generously offered to share a copy of his handout/presentation with anyone who’d like to contact him. He can be reached at tpahnke@VillageOfManhattan.org.
