Police Seek Cooperation From Rental Property Owners
Program Meant To Limit Illegal Activity 
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2007 9:41 PM CST IN NEWS

By
Richard Dean Prudenti
THE MORNING NEWS

BENTONVILLE -- A crime-prevention program Bentonville police introduced Tuesday asks landlords to check prospective tenants' criminal backgrounds and evict those arrested for serious crimes.

"We are targeting certain people," said Bentonville Police Sgt. David Green.

Discriminating against those who commit crimes is unlike discriminating people because of race, ethnicity, religion, sex or any other protected class under the Fair Housing Act, Green said.

"If we need to keep criminals out of the community, that's OK with me," Green said.

The program discriminates against those who commit serious crimes such as violence, sex offenses and drug-related acts, he said.

The department is modeling the program after efforts by the Mesa, Ariz., Police Department to minimize the crime rate and reduce calls for police service in apartment communities. That agency created its program in 1992.

Green noted an apartment owner has expressed interest in the program, but he declined to name the complex.

Mayor Bob McCaslin, during a news conference, said those who participate in criminal activity are not welcome in Bentonville.

"We are strongly discouraging people who have a propensity for crime to live in Bentonville," McCaslin said.

Green received training in Arizona in July so he can teach Bentonville apartment owners and managers about security measures. These include checking tenants' criminal history and evicting tenants who commit crimes on or off apartment grounds. It also requires tenant applicants to sign a crime-free release addendum to their lease contracts.

Bill Serna, a manger for The Glen at Polo Park in Bentonville, enthusiastically supports the program because he saw how it worked to lessen crime rates in Tempe, Ariz., where he worked for an apartment complex. Tempe is near Mesa.

Screening criteria, including criminal and credit background checks, are nothing new. What's different about this program is that it addresses criminal activity during a tenant's occupancy, Serna said.

"What's nice about it is that they would send crime statistics on a monthly basis, so you knew what issues were happening in the community," Serna said.

Participating apartments are allowed to place signs at the entrances and exits indicating they belong to the "Crime-Free Multi-Housing" program. Sometimes the signs are enough to discourage criminals from applying to become tenants, officials said.

Those apartment complexes that do not follow the program can be "decertified," which means they won't be promoted as crime-free participants on the city Web site or have signs on their properties.

This would happen if an apartment owner rents to a convicted criminal and police have multiple calls to that address because of neighbors' complaints or criminal activity.

"If a property manager wants to roll the dice, that's up to them," Green said.

Rehabilitation is not part of the program, mainly because the police department is charged with enforcing law, fighting crime and preventing crime, Green said.

"It's not my job to rehabilitate criminals," he said.