Three ways to improve the problem property ordinance in New Bedford

In 2015, New Bedford instituted a “Problem Property” ordinance to punish the owners of the properties that police show up to the most. 31 Ashley Street in New Bedford’s south end was used as an example – the property had over 200 police phone calls in four years.

As written, the objective of the problem property is to punish the worst property owners with police costs. The new objectives should be to remove the drug dealers from the city and replace property owners that rent to drug dealers with good property owners. Imagine how New Bedford would look if every landlord was responsible and either didn’t rent to the drug dealers or removed them once discovered?

Here are three ways to improve New Bedford problem property ordinance:

First, a misdemeanor is the same as a felony under the current ordinance. Police responding to a loud TV complaint is the same as police raiding an apartment and finding 20 known drug dealers cutting up heroin. Currently, you could have 7 drug raids in less than a year and not be considered a problem property. For example, the 358 North Front Street property that had three major drug trafficking raids in a 6 week period earlier this year is not considered a problem property. The location could still have a few more drug raids, and even homicides, and only a strongly worded letter to the landlord would be the result, as long as the property didn’t receive eight calls in 12 months.

Considering the real goal of the ordinance should be to get rid of the drug dealers, and since the judges won’t help, drug raids should be valued more than other offenses. Two drug raids with the same property owner should make the property a problem property. Any rational person would tell you a drug raid should be considered a worst crime than a loud TV.

Second, it currently takes eight valid complaints in a 12 month period before any real punishment occurs. Property owners get a strongly worded letter after three valid complaints, but the only real punishment occurs after 8 valid complaints within a 12 months period. This should be moved to six valid complains in a 24 month period. That allows a property to have a police response every 4 months, instead of every six weeks

Additionally, not only should strongly worded letters be sent after three valid complaints, the property owner should be required to go to a “How not to rent to a drug dealer” class if any of those offenses are drug trafficking. The class should teach landlords how to use Google and provide information how to do background checks on prospective tenants. Renting to a first time drug dealer is a forgivable offense, but renting to a man with 53 convictions is not.

Third, the ordinance says after eight valid complaints the police chief “may assess the cost of future police response to the property owner.” The key word being may – even after all the problems, the police are not required to charge the property owner anything. Why not just come up with an exact cost and require the Police Chief to assess it?

The root New Bedford’s crime problems start with the economy and families and ends with the landlords and weak judges. The economy is a long-term fix and the judges aren’t going anywhere, so it’s up to New Bedford’s leaders to step up and hold the landlords that rent to drug dealers even more accountable.