Gun violence persists in DeKalb. City leaders say they have a plan to address it, and it starts with rental property owners

DeKALB – DeKalb city leaders said they have a plan to curb ongoing gun violence in the area, and it could involve hefty fines to landlords who don’t intervene when criminal behavior occurs on their property.

The proposal will go before the DeKalb City Council during its regular meeting at 6 p.m. Monday in the Yusunas Meeting Room at the DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak Street, DeKalb. No vote is expected, though city staff said they hope to garner council input.

Dubbed the “Crime-Free Initiative,” the plan as drafted would compress the existing three-strike system that’s in place for rentals unit and property owners, allowing city police to intervene faster and impose stiffer fines on landlords and property managers, documents show.

The proposed initiative was born out of the city’s existing crime-free housing lease provision of 2013, according to city documents. All landlords are currently required to incorporate the crime-free lease addendum in all rental contracts.

The proposal allows landlords and rental property managers to ban tenant’s guests and invitees who engage in behavior deemed in conflict with the crime free housing lease addendum. Rental properties and tenant spaces could be subject to inspection if deemed to be chronically disorderly or in violation of no-trespass agreements or the city’s municipal code.

Should a crime occur at a rental property, the city could issue a criminal nuisance property violation. According to the proposal, a first violation would come with a $2,500 fine, $5,000 for a second violation and $10,000 for third and subsequent violations. Three violations would also mandate closure of the rental property or unit for at least 12 months, an abatement order and a stay order.

Landlords who fail to comply with the crime free housing lease provision are also fined $250, documents show. Under the proposed changes, that fine could grow by $1,000 per day for every day that the rental agreement does not include the crime free housing lease provision, according to city documents.

Over the past several years, as city leaders looked to address quality of housing in DeKalb, conversations moved to crime that city and police officials have said is concentrated in certain areas.

In August, the city voted to annex Suburban Estates and Apartments on North Annie Glidden Road and Twombly. An agreement was also struck between the DeKalb Police Department and with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office that addressed what Sheriff Andy Sullivan said at the time was daily police visits to the area due to 911 calls.

City leaders said last December that several rental complexes on the city’s north side – including the former Hunter Ridgebrook complex and Lincoln Tower, now called The Terraces and owned by Chicago-based Clear Investment Group – account for a “disproportionately high percentage of police and fire responses each month,” documents state.

And a recent string of gun violence on the north side saw the city’s first homicide of 2022, after an 18-year-old was fatally shot in the head in the afternoon outside West Ridge Apartments on Aug. 24. On Aug. 23, a DeKalb woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries after she was shot outside another apartment complex along Ridge Drive. And a 13-year-old faces attempted murder charges after police said on Aug. 22 he shot another teenager in the back on South Eighth Street blocks from an elementary and middle school, prompting proactive lockdowns of the school buildings.

Michael H. Howard, 25, of DeKalb was charged with first-degree murder in the Aug. 24 shooting death.

Under the proposal, activity determined to be unlawful by the city – such as misdemeanor or felony acts, or violations of city code – would be deemed a nuisance, making a person, property owner, landlord or tenant liable for a criminal nuisance property violation.

Tenants or people who contact police to alert them of a crime would not be penalized under the city’s proposal, documents state.

The ordinance outlines a process for law enforcement authorities to document unlawful activity.

Police officers are advised to report their findings to a shift supervisor in accordance with departmental policies, who would then refer it to a – yet appointed – director of the crime-free bureau, a full-time position.

A preliminary determination would be made a short time later. If the director issued a violation, a notice would be sent out with information about an administrative hearing.