I also live across from a party house (with drugs too probably) and I live in Kingfield, an area I thought was outside the crime containment zone. It has taken years of 911 calls and threats against the landlord to finally shut these people up (and who knows when they'll start up again?).
I have a few tips for Dyna but she'll have to be prepared to make this a second job for a while and even then can't be sure of the results. First, is there a landlord? They can have their licenses to rent pulled if they are maintaining a public nuisance (this is an ordinance - I can't remember which one but it's probably on line. Read through the whole chapter dealing with rental property - it may have provisions relevant to your situation). First write a letter to the landlord citing all of the things he's doing wrong under the law (you can get his or her name and address from the County Recorder, Floor 6A of the Government Center). Then go to the housing inspectors office; it's in the building next to the Federal Courthouse and kitty corner from City Hall. They don't like to work anymore than the police do so be prepared. Also, a public nuisance can be prosecuted by the City Attorney. I think there has to be a certain number of 911 calls or a certain number of arrests within a time frame (1 year?). My neighbors had something like 20+ calls a year. The cops hardly ever showed up after my calls (I don't know about the other calls). About the only time I would see them is when several squads showed up and heavily armed cops rushed out and surrounded the house. They would drag someone out of the house and then drive off. You can talk to the cops at the public safety building about a program they have for dealing with high call houses. I tried this and they never called me back after I left several messages. Also, are there any children? You can call Child Protection although I pretty much agree with Jim they probably won't do anything for a low income black child. I almost tried this route when I saw the baby (now about 5 years old) being tossed out of a car during a drunken brawl at 3 in the morning. You can also investigate the tenants if you can get their names - check them out in Hennepin County computers. They have databases for criminal, civil and housing court. One thing I did was collect license plate numbers - there was a steady stream of traffic day and night. I too was struck by all the nice cars and SUVs. I drive a jalopy and work 40+ hours a week. The law now only allows attorneys to get the names and addresses from plate numbers so you'll need to make friends with a lawyer. Or you could actually get the police interested in this problem and they'll look up the plates for you (ha ha just a little levity here). All in all, I think threatening the landlord is the way to go. They actually have something to loose. Plus, if you only get rid of the tenants, they'll just rent to someone else. I was on the verge of doing this and had actually made my first visit to the Inspectors' office when suddenly the people moved out. There was a lot of coming and going and what looked liked an effort to clean the place up (I heard from one of my former neighbors that the inside was almost destroyed). To my great disappointment they then moved back in but haven't been nearly as noisy. With any luck at all I'll have until next spring before I have to start all over at square 1. The people on the other side of them now have their house up for sale. Good luck Dyna! And contact me off list you have any questions. Linda Mann _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@;mnforum.org Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
