TAMPA, Fla. — Civil rights leaders in Hillsborough County say reforms to a Tampa Police Department program that led to hundreds of evictions don’t go far enough and they want the program to end.
“We all want to live in a safe community, but there are guidelines…you cannot over-police the community. You cannot violate someone’s…civil rights,” said Yvette Lewis, president of the Hillsborough NAACP.
Lewis says she wants to see an end to TPD’s crime-free multi-family housing program, which notifies participating landlords about arrests, which could lead to eviction.
“You’re policing the community by holding housing over families,” Lewis said.
TPD started the program around 2013, and an investigation by the Tampa Bay Times showed hundreds of people lost their homes. Low-income African Americans were disproportionately impacted.
"We already have a housing problem in the city of Tampa,” Lewis said.
Leaders like Lewis and those with the ACLU have put pressure on Mayor Jane Castor to end the program.
In a statement, Castor’s spokesperson Adam Smith said:
"Every single resident of Tampa, regardless of their economic status, deserves to live in clean, safe housing. This crime prevention program has helped improve the quality of life of thousands of people, but we are always reviewing and improving programs like this and have made multiple changes to ensure landlords don't unfairly evict people.
"But halting an effective crime prevention program at a time when violent crime is on the rise in Tampa and most every other American city, would only hurt our most vulnerable residents."
Neighbors like Connie Burton disagree. Burton lived in Robles Park Village for 20 years and watched families lost their homes. She faced eviction herself due to a federal one-strike program that pre-dated TPD’s initiative.
She says both programs have the same intent.
“My son, along with six other young men, was accused of totally having about $30 worth of marijuana, and as a result of that arrest…I was evicted,” Burton said.
TPD defended the program, saying it’s important to consider neighbors who become victims.
“A lot of families that live in these apartment complexes…can’t enjoy the same quality of life you do at your house…some of them will tell you they can’t come out on their porch at night, they can’t walk around their complex because their neighbor is…dealing drugs in the community,” acting TPD Chief Ruben Delgado said.
In a letter to the NAACP, Castor said it is important to remember TPD does not evict. They simply provide landlords with arrest reports that can help them make the decision to evict.