NCJ Number
126442
Journal
Policy Review Volume: 53 Dated: (Summer 1990) Pages: 78-81
Date Published
1990
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the eviction of drug dealers from public housing in Alexandria (Virginia) through a waiver from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the eviction grievance procedure.
Abstract
It begins with the killing of Corporal Charles Hill on March 22, 1989 in a public housing project in Alexandria. It traces his death to the existence of crack houses in public housing areas which the housing authority was powerless to shut down because of existing requirements for eviction, including felony conviction, sufficient proof of possession or distribution of drugs, and the tedious process of administrative grievance. Responses from HUD officials, Jack Kemp and Frank Keating produced the first waiver in the country to evict drug dealers without going through the administrative grievance procedure provided there was a preponderance of evidence of criminal activity. In addition the Alexandria housing authority withdrew requirements of felony conviction for eviction. The article then details how the existence of a crack house is determined, and once evidence is collected, how to evict an entire family. It also discusses family accountability, placement of homeless drug addicts into public housing, open air drug markets with buyers from affluent suburbs, and Alexandria's restrictive definition of loitering.