Afraid to walk your neighborhood streets or even the grounds of your apartment complex? Disgusted by the endless promises to crack down on crime that are never kept? Here’s a novel way to send thieves, murderers, drug dealers and other criminals packing: Sue the cops for not doing their jobs!
Don’t laugh. That’s exactly what’s happening right now in Prince George’s County. The fed-up owners of several low-income apartment complexes managed by Vienna-based Southern Management Corp. have filed a lawsuit claiming that the county has repeatedly failed to meet its own police staffing standards.
As Examiner reporter Erica Jacobson recently reported, the plaintiffs are seeking $30 million in damages and a court order to increase police patrols around the University Gardens Apartments in Adelphi, Penn Southern Apartments in Capitol Heights and Hampshire Village Apartments in Langley Park.
All provide affordable housing (some 3 bedroom/1.5 bath units with a balcony available for less than $1,000 per month) and discounts for police officers, teachers and students at the University of Maryland just three miles away. The apartments are Metro-accessible, close to schools and shopping — and plagued by crime. Residents complain that laundry rooms have been taken over by the homeless, drug dealers and prostitutes openly ply their trades and the sound of gunfire is common.
Attorney Michael Winer told The Examiner that the lawsuit (which was initially filed last year in federal court) was triggered by County Executive Jack Johnson’s threat to put the properties on an apartment action list and close them down altogether if the violence continued — even though the owners have been paying $50 extra per unit since 1988 for more police patrols in the multi-family complexes. Johnson wanted to raise the fee again, even though the county had already pocketed the money in the past but never kept its end of the bargain.
Southern Management is the largest privately owned property management firm in the Mid-Atlantic region, responsible for 70 apartment complexes and 25,000 apartments in the Baltimore-Washington region. No doubt the company could do a lot more itself to make its properties safer. But Winer also makes a valid point when he says, “It’s not the apartment owners’ statutory responsibility to police the county.” Especially when they’re paying extra to have the county do it for them.
District 1 Police Major Kevin Davis recently told residents that crime in Langley Park, where one of the properties is located, is down about 10 percent this year, but the violent MS-13 gang remains a strong presence there. Property owners should keep their structures well-lighted and well-maintained, but it’s up to the county police force to keep the peace.
Prince George’s has until Sept. 11 to respond to the lawsuit, which raises an interesting proposition. What if more taxpayers who pay dearly for basic services — but don’t always get them — start suing officials for failure to deliver, starting with the government’s schools?
