The City’ s Crime free Multi-Housing Program Gives Renters Peace of Mind and Improved Quality of Life.
BUSINESS
Property Manager Gary Stine and HPD Officer Gerard Kendle( L – R) display the sign designating The Bradford Apartments as part of the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program, a cooperative strategy between apartment complexes, tenants and law enforcement.
Home, Safe Home
The City’ s Crime free Multi-Housing Program Gives Renters Peace of Mind and Improved Quality of Life.
by Charissa Hipp + photo by Chris Jackson
In June 2012, The Bradford Apartments in Hagerstown became the first apartment complex in the state of Maryland to be certified under the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program. The initiative is designed to reduce crime, drugs and gangs at apartment properties. Since originating through the Mesa Arizona Police Department in 1992, the program has spread to cities in nearly all 50 states and countries around the globe.
Hagerstown Police Department Officer Gerard Kendle first heard about it in 2006 at a Neighborhoods USA Conference addressing the revitalization of city cores.“ Kansas City, Mo., had this program, and they gave a presentation. I thought it was the perfect thing for Hagerstown,” he says. Officer Kendle shared what he learned with the police chief, and later attended training in Albuquerque, N. M. Hagerstown’ s Crime Free Multi-Housing Program kicked off in 2010, and the first classes were offered for property managers in 2011. That’ s when Gary Stine, property manager at The Bradford Apartments, took the training.“ It gives us additional tools to evict for lease violation, as far as crime goes,” Gary says regarding the program’ s attractiveness.
The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program involves three phases. The first phase is an 8-hour training for landowners or property managers. The second phase involves the police department conducting a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design inspection.“ We look at safety, the environment, how things are laid out, landscaping, lighting, and the types of locks,” Officer Kendle explains.“ We examine what kind of image or territoriality is displayed and the sense of ownership of the property. It’ s an all-inclusive process.” At The Bradford, Gary says,“ we spent quite a bit of money improving lighting, and we made some landscape changes.”
The third phase of the program is an annual social for tenants, who learn what’ s expected of them as well as what they can expect from the property manager and from law enforcement.“ That way we have everybody on the same page, working together, and the citizens that live here are taking that pledge to live a crime-free lifestyle,” says Officer Kendle.
Already, The Bradford has noted benefits like increased occupancy, long-term occupancy, and fewer maintenance issues brought about by tenants. The Hagerstown Police Department has also benefited by having fewer calls for service.“ As part of the program, Gary gets a weekly email from me of all our calls for service out here so he can, as a manager, address the problem with tenants,” Officer Kendle says.
Certification in the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program gives residents peace of mind and an improved quality of life, and at press time, two additional Hagerstown properties were completing the certification process.“ Prospective renters often ask what security measures we have in place,” Gary says,“ and we can explain the program to them. We’ ve always had a zero-tolerance policy and have done criminal background checks in addition to credit checks. This just reinforces what we’ re already doing and gives us additional tools to act on problems and issues.” §
City of Hagerstown’ s CrimeFree Multi-Housing Program
Visit www. hagerstownmd. org / crimefree.
Hagerstown: The Best of Life in Washington County & Beyond May / June 2013 25