IN VIOLATION; CAPE GIRARDEAU POLICE WANT TO USE PROPERTY CODE AS CRIME-FIGHTING TOOL

Imagine you own your home on a street near a rundown house surrounded by tall weeds. That house was once abandoned but you see activity there -- people going in and out at all hours. Occasionally, you hear what sounds like people fighting.

You suspect it's a drug house and fear going outside at night, so you call the police. They put it under surveillance but don't have enough evidence to get a search warrant.

Cape Girardeau Police Chief Rick Hetzel said he wants the power to file complaints about building maintenance code violations just for situations like this. But under the city code he can't.

The Cape Girardeau City Council debated whether to give him that power last Monday. It will probably come up for final approval on Monday, July 7.

In most places, anyone can file a complaint. In Cape Girardeau only tenants, invitees or patrons of commercial property or residents living within 200 feet of a property can complain. Complaints are not anonymous, so the neighbors of a nuisance building could be scared to file one.

Hetzel said giving him the power to file complaints would be a way to "interdict some crimes by applying some ordinances that aren't usually used."

If the inspector finds serious violations, he can order the owner to make repairs by a certain date or the building will be boarded up and the occupants evicted.

Hetzel said this doesn't necessarily eliminate crime, but it does move it around and make criminals' lives more difficult.

"The reality in what we do is we can't arrest everybody," Hetzel said. "If a person wants to engage in a criminal act, we want to make it as inconvenient as possible. We want to make our community safe. It's a matter of using all the ways we can."

He said sometimes drug dealers will come to town and look for abandoned houses in which to set up shop.

The minimum building maintenance code is not the same as the building code, said Richard Murray, inspection services director for Cape Girardeau.

"Building codes tell us how to erect a structure," he said. "Minimum property maintenance standards tell us at what minimum standard they must be kept. If you have a front door on a structure, it still should be operable."

No one can file a complaint without cause, and no one can enter a property illegally to find a cause, Hetzel said. He said that if a police officer is called to a building and observes violations, the officer can report that to the chief, who would use it as the basis for a formal complaint.

Anything that is easily observable from the street could result in a complaint as well.

Once someone files a complaint, the ordinance calls for the city to give the property owner five days notice before making the inspection.

Murray said that if a landowner is serious about keeping his property after a complaint has been filed, the city will work out some way of making sure the landlord can bring the property up to standards.

Hetzel said using property maintenance codes has brought down crime in many cities. One he said was particularly successful is Des Moines.

"It doesn't end the problem, it just moves it," said Sgt. Bruce Elrod, a spokesman for the Des Moines Police Department. He said the police there set up neighborhood groups that look out for problems, and, among other activities, file complaints against problem houses.

In addition to moving criminals out of neighborhoods, it means that landlords who might not pay much attention to their property start to pay attention. He said many properties get fixed up because the owners don't want to lose them.

Councilman Richard Eggimann said he has reservations about giving Hetzel the power to file complaints. He said he is reluctant to tinker with the maintenance code that the council so carefully drafted in 1994.

"Does this mean the next step is fire department and next step inspection department?" Eggimann said.

Eggimann said he doesn't want the city picking on some landlords. "I can spot you 20 houses that have outside violations," he said. "Basically, it is because of lack of money."