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Office of the District Attorney P. David Soares SAFE HOMES – SAFE STREETS ALBANY, NY – District Attorney P. David Soares today announced the launch of the Safe Homes / Safe Streets Initiative in partnership with local law enforcement including the City of Albany and the Albany Police Department. This initiative will consist of three programs: Landlord Training, Narcotics Eviction, and Trespass Affidavit. The initiative is designed to crack down on crack houses. The Landlord Training program will concentrate on teaching landlords how to avoid renting to potential tenants with known records for selling narcotics and how to create leases that reflect local community standards. The Narcotics Eviction program will help landlords evict tenants who have allowed for illegal activities to have been conducted on their premises. And the Trespass Affidavit program will help landlords and tenants combat the drug dealing and other illicit activities in the public spaces in private buildings by vigorously enforcing the No Trespassing laws. “I believe that government has a fundamental obligation to provide an environment where people can be safe in their own homes,” said Soares. “One of the consequences of more aggressive enforcement of street crime coupled with the advent of the winter months is that many illegal operations are moved inside to take place within private property. This makes it more difficult for law enforcement and it can make life very difficult for peace-loving neighbors. Since it is clear that effective law enforcement requires active citizen support, the Safe Homes - Safe Streets Program creates a new partnership between community leaders, landlords, tenants, home owners and law enforcement. Through the Safe Streets - Safe Homes programs, this coalition will have a contact within the DA’s office dedicated to physically evicting those involved in crime in private dwellings. The result of this program will be safer homes and more peaceful neighborhoods throughout Albany County Soares also displayed a printout of all the calls for service that had been made for the buildings of 12, 14, and 16 Dana over the past 5 years. “Not only are the gangs of drug dealers who congregate in front of these locations destroying the entire block, but they are also costing the taxpayers of the City of Albany a small fortune. Here is a printout recording over 500 calls for service from these three building – an average of one per week, week-in, week-out. Each of these calls costs over $100 in direct costs and as many as several thousand dollars in follow-up costs. When we clean up these crack houses, this money can be better spent on better street lighting or remedial reading classes or better sports programs for our teens,” he said. Through the Safe Homes/ Safe Streets Initiative, landlords, tenants, homeowners, law enforcement personnel, and community leaders will have a contact within the DA’s office to confront criminal behavior drug dealing, prostitution, trespassing, the sale of stolen property, gambling, and other such as illegal activities in private buildings. Services provided will include:
Mayor Gerald Jennings added “Neighborhood groups, associations and citizens are vital to any successful enforcement initiative. As a community we all must be committed to providing safe environments for our citizens to work and live and for our children to go to school. The Safe Homes-Safe Streets Program is a continued example of the City's commitment to fundamental initiatives that improve the overall safety for our entire community.” Back to Press Releases For further information contact: Richard Arthur
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