MEMPHIS, TN – Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons and Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin announced that officers with the Memphis Police Department’s Undercover Operations Unit boarded up 13 “drug houses” Monday in the second phase of “Operations Renewed Resolution.” On January 22, the D.A.’s Office filed nuisance petitions against the owners of 14 residential properties where the sale and use of illegal drugs, specifically crack cocaine, frequently occurred. Last week, the environmental court judge ordered 13 of those properties closed.
The nuisance actions were the result of an undercover investigation, “Operation Renewed Resolution,” that started in October 2007 and targeted properties located less than one mile from a school. Police last week also served search warrants to all 14 locations.
One of the properties, located at 57 Burdock, was not physically boarded on Monday, because there is an elderly resident of the property who was being taken advantage of by younger family members. For that reason the D.A.’s Office is cooperating with the resident and posting signs forbidding any drug traffic to and from the property. The elderly homeowner supports this action.
The site of Monday’s announcement was 4492 Wooddale, which is one half mile from Sheffield Elementary School. Police notified the Department of Children’s Services (DCS) about six children, ages 1 – 10, which were present when adults inside the home were arrested for drug possession. DCS reports that the children have been placed in safe environments.
According to the nuisance petitions filed against the properties, undercover officers purchased or witnessed the purchase of crack cocaine inside the properties on numerous occasions. Some of the drug sales were made during the middle of the afternoon when children were walking home from school. The petitions filed against these properties allege that the locations have the general reputations of being “drug houses” and havens for criminal activity.
“Some of these houses are beyond repair and need to be boarded up permanently or demolished. Most need to be refurbished and returned to or changed into safe, law-abiding places to live. We will continue to work with the owners and the court to achieve this result. But simply put, drug houses cannot continue to exist in our community,” said District Attorney Gibbons.
“Our efforts under the Blue CRUSH™ initiative and OCU undercover program will continue to reduce drug activity in our neighborhoods,” said Director Godwin. “This location here will no longer serve as a criminal haven for drug dealers,” the director added.
As a result of undercover investigations by the Memphis Police Department since the start of Operation Blue CRUSH™, the D.A.’s Office has filed nuisance actions against the owners of more than 100 properties.
Tennessee law states that the District Attorney General has authority to bring a civil action against any establishment deemed a nuisance. The statute defines a nuisance, in part, as “any place in or upon which… unlawful sale of any regulated legend drug, narcotic or other controlled substance…quarrelling, drunkenness, fighting, or breaches of the peace are carried on or permitted.”
The District Attorney’s Office, working with investigations by the Memphis Police Department and as part of Operation Blue CRUSH™, has filed nuisance petitions against the owners of numerous properties—both residential and businesses—under the Tennessee nuisance law. Some nuisance actions have resulted in permanent closure of the properties. Others have reopened under consent orders to alleviate the nuisance. |