On Tuesday morning, representatives from a nationwide coalition of legal civil rights groups joined a virtual meeting with Mayor Jane Castor and a legal representative from her staff to address Tampa’s controversial crime-free multi-housing program. The coalition claims that Castor defended the program during the meeting and has now renewed the call for the program to end.
Last week, a Tampa Bay Times investigation found that since the program’s inception 8 years ago, the program has flagged roughly 1,100 tenants for eviction—90% of those renters were Black. In response, the coalition sent a letter to Castor demanding the program end. Castor initially defended the program that she started when she was police chief, but on Saturday announced reforms, which the coalition says are not enough to address the problem.
According to the coalition, Castor had requested that only the parties involved with sending the initial demand letter join her on the Tuesday call. During the meeting, the group says that Castor claimed that recent and past reforms to the program were enough, and stood by her decision not to end it.
Creative Loafing Tampa Bay reached out to the mayor’s communications director to see if they have a response to the claims made in the coalition’s letter, but has not yet received an official response. This post will be updated when one comes in.
The coalition wrote on behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Hillsborough County Branch of the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Greater Tampa Chapter of the ACLU of Florida, the NYU School of Law Civil Rights Clinic and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
In the latest letter, which was sent out last night, the coalition wrote to Castor and city council to, “renew our request that you immediately end Tampa’s Crime-Free Multi Housing Program.”
“As a follow-up to our meeting, we want to recap some of the statements you and the city attorney made and reiterate our concerns,” the letter adds.
The letter explains that the safety of Tampa residents is of paramount importance to the coalition.
“We, like you, want all Tampa residents to be safe and secure in their homes; what concerns us is an approach that evicts people unfairly and disproportionally affects people of color,” the letter reads.
The letter explains that a significant portion of the makeup of the Hillsborough County Branch of NAACP is composed of renters in Tampa, who are subject to the city’s program. The coalition argues that it’s those members whose rights and safety they seek to protect.
“Just as we do not want people to be victims of crimes, neither do we want them to be victims of a flawed program backed by the city,” the letter says.
The coalition then goes on to dissect claims that the city attorney and Castor made about the program, and rebuts them from the coalition’s point of view. Here’s a breakdown of the arguments made in the coalition’s letter:
Changes to the program in 2019 do not address the root of the problem
“The crux of the city’s position is that the Program underwent significant changes in 2019, such that the concerns outlined in our September 16th letter are no longer relevant. Specifically, you explained that the lease addendum and screening requirement have been eliminated. Now, the program centers on three components: 1) training program; 2) site review and evaluation; and 3) community outreach to establish “working relationships” between tenants and landlords. Unfortunately, these revisions do not alleviate our many concerns with the original program.”
Public records request shows Tampa police designed a racially driven program
“Based on the materials provided in response to our public records request of July 21, 2021, it is clear that the program as originally designed has a disparate impact on people of color, in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
You do not dispute this, but instead claimed that the program has been revised to comport with federal law. But you offered no evidence of these changes and instead provided vague assertions that the program centers on “training,” “community outreach,” and “working relationships.”
A request for all materials related to the program
“To fully evaluate the program in its current form, we request:
1) All materials related to the current training program, including but not limited to slideshows, handouts, etc.;
2) All documents utilized during site inspections, including but not limited to handouts, checklists, etc.;
3) All documents related to community outreach and “working relationships”
4) All documents related to the City’s oversight of the program.”
Reforms to the program still leave it “materially the same”
“You seem to recognize now that the program, as originally instituted, was seriously flawed and unlawful. But, based upon the information received during the meeting, it appears that the program as originally instituted is materially the same. In fact, the program is essentially now on auto-pilot. That is, it still exists but is not being promoted or executed as robustly as it had been in the past, but the actual substance of the program remains unchanged. Thus, revisions to the program have had little effect.”
Problematic police training of landlords
“As you know, the original training materials provided to landlords were highly problematic, at one point even referring to tenants as “weeds” that needed to be removed. Although you stated that the City no longer uses the original materials, it does not appear that the City ever retrained landlords and property managers who were inappropriately trained. Thus, the only training many landlords and property managers were ever given was improper.”
Lease addendum is still in effect, despite the reform
“You stated that the City no longer uses the lease addendum. This, however, has little practical effect if the City never instructed landlords and property managers to retire the addendum. Thus, the addendum, which was created by the City, remains an entrenched part of the program, continues to affect tenants who have signed leases in the past, and still is being included in leases with new tenants.”
Crime-Free program should instead be called the “African American Relocation Program”
“You said that the police department no longer takes part in the eviction process. The City may no longer be paying police officers to attend eviction hearings—a practice unique to Tampa that was invasive and problematic, even as compared to other municipalities with “crime-free” programs—but the police still notify landlords and property owners about alleged “criminal activity” by particular residents.
The undisputed statistics show that the misnamed “Crime-Free” program could more properly be called an “African American Relocation Program,” whereby Black residents are systematically forced out of Tampa’s city limits.”
Tenants being evicted for arrests before due process; violation of the Fair Housing Act
“We also continue to believe that the question of whether a person has committed a crime should be adjudicated by judges and jury at criminal trials. The concept that a person who has never been tried for or convicted of a particular crime still can be evicted from housing because of “criminal activity” defies any notion of fairness and runs afoul of the Fair Housing Act.
The program suggests the city has “little faith” in the criminal justice system
More than anything, this aspect of the program suggests that the City may have little faith in the criminal justice system. If the police truly believe that an individual has committed a crime, they have the totality of the City’s resources to prove it in criminal court. If they cannot do so, a landlord or property manager should not be encouraged to punish the individual with less evidence under a non-existent standard of proof. In short, persons who have not been convicted of crime should not be treated like criminals and should not be threatened with loss of their homes without due process of law.”
The program is not proven to reduce crime
With regard to the anecdotal data related to reductions in crime, we note that crime fell across all of Tampa and indeed the United States. Thus, attributing any reduction to a particular program without a verifiable connection is premature. You mentioned an 80% drop in crime at one location. We ask that your office supply the supporting data for this assertion, including for that location and any other touted as having a reduction in crime the crime statistics for at least five years preceding the reduction. Without such data, it is impossible to assess the impact of the program and whether it fully accounts for the improvements you described.
On a related note, did these drops in crime rates at the particular housing complexes take place before or after the City changed its program to comply with federal law?”
“The program could be ended with a single email”
“Because of all of the foregoing, we ask that, at the very least, the City suspend all currently operating aspects of the program until it completes an evaluation of the program and the lingering effects of improper training at the program’s inception. As you mention, this is a program, not an ordinance. Consequently, it should be easier to shut down this program than it would be to repeal an ordinance. The program could be ended with a single email.”
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This article appears in Sep 16-22, 2021.