D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine has reached an agreement with the city’s housing authority over a June lawsuit concerning conditions at 10 of its properties, alleging the agency has been “refusing to address systematic drug-and-firearm-related activity” there.
The settlement requires the D.C. Housing Authority to implement a comprehensive security plan at the properties, which are located in Wards 1, 5, 6, and 7 and are home to more than 5,000 residents. According to a press release from Racine’s office, DCHA must “install and maintain lights and security cameras, hire additional security personnel, secure vacant units, perform daily inspections, and perform frequent property maintenance.”
DCHA must also invest $500,000 in violence interruption programming over a five-year period, regularly work with residents and community stakeholders regarding safety, and report monthly compliance reports to Racine’s office.
“We appreciate the seriousness with which DCHA and its leadership team addressed OAG’s concern to reach a quick and just resolution of the lawsuit,” Racine said in the release. “The agreed upon changes should result in reduced dangerous illegal activity at the properties, eliminate blight, and provide residents at these properties more of a voice in how safety issues are handled.
DCHA serves as the landlord for around 20,000 residents of the District’s public housing at 56 properties.
“The health and safety of our residents is extremely important to me,” DCHA Executive Director Tyrone Garrett said in a separate news release.
He added that alongside working with Racine’s office, DCHA has “created enhanced security plans for our properties and have already begun much of the work outlined in the agreement. DCHA looks forward to the successful implementation of these plans. The challenges our communities face are a collective responsibility for all of us to address, and with this important joint effort, we look forward to seeing continued safety improvements in these neighborhoods.”
The June lawsuit focused on 10 properties with more than 2,500 units, including:
- James Creek Apartments
- Syphax Gardens Apartments
- Langston Terrace and Additions
- LeDroit Apartments and Kelly Miller Apartments
- Kenilworth Courts Apartments
- Lincoln Heights Apartments
- Richardson Dwellings Apartments
- Stoddert Terrace Apartments
- Benning Terrace Apartments
- Public housing in the neighborhood formerly known as Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg.
The suit said those properties “have been the site of ongoing drug- and firearm-related nuisance activities for years, including multiple homicides, the regular execution of search warrants, and seizures of drugs, drug paraphernalia, firearms, and other firearm-related devices.”
Tenants not involved in those activities, per the suit, have lived under “constant, warranted fear that they will be the victim of drug-related violence,” when walking to the grocery store, church, or school.
The suit claimed that the city contacted DCHA repeatedly about problems with drugs and guns and offered suggestions on safety improvements, but said DCHA “has failed to respond or engage meaningfully with the District on these matters.”
DCHA said in June that it planned to launch an internal investigation and make an effort alongside the OAG to “rectify the issues” in the filing, but the agency also raised questions about whether the suit was the proper avenue for solving safety issues on its properties.
