| MEMPHIS, TN – Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons announced Monday that the owners and management of the Peppertree Apartments in Whitehaven have taken specific security measures to make living conditions safer for residents and surrounding neighbors and that the nuisance action filed last July against the apartment complex has been dismissed.
The District Attorney’s Office inspected the property located at 4243 Graceland Drive, and approved the security measures put in place by Peppertree-Memphis, LTD and Tesco Properties after an agreement was reached and approved by the court.
The nuisance action was filed against Peppertree Apartments in response to numerous incidents of rampant violence, drug sales and use, gang crime, and even two murders that took place on the property. According to the petition, violence and drug sales had become the norm in the apartment complex, and lawful residents had been living in fear of gunfire and gangs. Spill-over violence and crime infected the surrounding Whitehaven neighborhood.
“Today, the Peppertree Apartment complex is a safer place for the many law-abiding families who live there. We believe that the owners and management will continue to enforce the security measures taken to help ensure gang violence and drug trafficking do not again become normal activities at the apartment complex,” said District Attorney Gibbons.
The security measures include:
All tenants, guests, and employees of Peppertree or the management company who park a vehicle on the premises must display an identifying decal or tag authorizing the vehicle to park on the premises. Additionally, signs have been prominently displayed at the complex warning that all unauthorized vehicles will be towed from the premises.
An electronically-controlled access gate system has been installed at each of the two entrances to Peppertree to provide restricted access to tenants, guests and employees. Each gate has been equipped with a continuously operating video camera to record traffic that enters the premises through the security gates.
Additional lighting has been provided in areas throughout the property.
Private security guards continue to patrol the property as required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
A new state law that went into effect July 1, 2006 gives the district attorney the right to file a nuisance action against the owners or managers of an entire apartment complex. |