When politicians incessantly beat the drum of fighting crime and cry out for law and order, my b.s. detector often goes berserk. It almost always seems to me that politicians try to dilute a complex issue, just so they can score some cheap points.
They want us all to believe that the solution is to elect a no-nonsense candidate like them, who will get tough on criminals. And if anyone is wounded by the fallout from all that, well then they must just be a criminal.
In Anoka, Minnesota, they have what’s called a crime-free housing ordinance. Who could possibly be opposed to an ordinance with a name like that (unless they’re some kind of communist or something)?
Under the ordinance, landlords are pressured by the city government to take action against, and maybe even evict, any of their tenants who are identified as making too many “nuisance” calls to police or other emergency response services.
But early in November, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) notified Anoka that the ordinance violates the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Housing Act.
After receiving complaints about the ordinance, the DoJ investigated and issued a letter stating that, through the city’s “crime-free” housing program, the city discouraged and prevented tenants “with mental health disabilities and those associated with them” from using its emergency response service. The letter included accounts of people with mental health disabilities and their families or service providers who were afraid to call for help for a mental health crisis so as to avoid risking their current housing or their future housing prospects.
The letter also said that the city sent weekly reports to all landlords of all calls for emergency services made from rental properties during that time period. These reports often contained information about individuals’ mental health disabilities including intimate details about their suicide attempts.
Apparently, Anoka isn’t the only place with such a troublesome ordinance. And it’s not just disabled people getting hurt. According to the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, towns and cities across the country are increasingly passing housing nuisance laws. As a result, “domestic violence victims often feel they must endure violence and threats without police intervention when calling the police will lead to homelessness. Nuisance ordinances have also been found to disproportionately impact and be disparately enforced against communities of color and persons with mental disabilities.”
The National Housing Law Project says, “These ordinances and programs are often adopted in response to a perceived change in the racial demographics of a community . . . . These programs and ordinances allow police and white neighbors to heavily regulate the conduct of renters of color.”
It’s now up to the city officials of Anoka to tell the DoJ what, if any, action will be taken to alleviate the problem.