Tulsa Home Declared A Public Nuisance

Tulsa Police say they're putting another Tulsa drug house out of business. They say repeated calls by concerned neighbors of a house at 1173 North Main Street led the city to declare it a nuisance

Thursday, August 10th 2006, 9:49 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa Police say they're putting another Tulsa drug house out of business. They say repeated calls by concerned neighbors of a house at 1173 North Main Street led the city to declare it a nuisance and hold the homeowner accountable.

It's one of hundreds of cases since the Drug Abatement Program began three years ago. News on 6 reporter Heather Lewin explains how police and citizens are working together to clean up their neighborhoods.

Hundreds of busts a year still didn't stem the tide and Tulsa Police say before a recent program began, often they would arrest dealers, but drugs would continue to be sold from the same houses. Tulsa Police Captain Richard Lawson: "The cases would go to court, but there was no action taken against the property owner or the person responsible for the property."

A barrage of citizen complaints helped launch the city's Drug Abatement Program. Any time a felony drug violation happens, that address is put into the database. Captain Richard Lawson: "What it has allowed us to do is pull together cases against a particular property over a period of time."

That means if police make several arrests at a suspected drug house, it's declared a nuisance. The owner can face criminal charges, even lose the property.

Tulsa Police say they've filed 278 cases since the program began. Just this week, another property is put on the list. Police say they've been called to the house on North Main Street 51 times in the past two years. They say the majority of those calls were drug related.

The owner of the house didnâ€™t want to go on camera, but told the News on 6, she's a working grandmother and the decision isn't fair and she plans to appeal. Tulsa Police say the program isn't just targeted at problem homeowners, but landlords as well.

Captain Richard Lawson: "It's a way to encourage property owners who might be renting or leasing to people to screen their applicants and to make sure that they are not engaging in any type of drug activity." Basically making people who own drug houses clean up their own backyard.

Property owners have 30 days to appeal a nuisance abatement before the city council.

You can confidentially report suspected drug houses by calling Crimestoppers at 596-COPS or the Mayor's Action Center at 596-2100.