Lake Highlands residents tend to regard our microcosm of hills, creeks and green spaces as a quasi-interdependent city within greater Dallas . Scenic topography, diverse housing and abundant recreational opportunities mean that this area is popular with both families and young professionals, particularly those who value close proximity to downtown.

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But the neighborhood’s bucolic aura has, for many years and a myriad of reasons, been tainted by crime. The situation was exacerbated recently by the Dallas Housing Authority’s decision to convert one of the area’s apartment complexes into public housing, making the whispers about crime in Lake Highlands just a bit louder.

 

Yet our neighborhood still enjoys a good reputation and remains popular for those who value aesthetic and architectural integrity: a compromise between the flash-and-dash McMansions of Highland Park and the generic, faux-revival boxes of Plano and beyond.

 

So are the stories about problems in the area just exaggerated tales about normal urban crime? Or is it truly a growing issue that needs to be nipped in the bud?

 

 

A Community Divided?

 

The answer to that question is elusive, depending on whom you ask. But, says the Lake Highlands Area Improvement Association’s Terri Woods: “Ask any resident in Lake Highlands what our biggest problem is, they’ll answer one of two things: All of the apartments or not having the retail we want to have.”

 

In terms of the former, Woods is talking about the 220 apartment complexes, or approximately 25,000 apartment units, that exist in our neighborhood. Dallas Police Department records confirm that much of the criminal activity in our neighborhood occurs in or near these high-density apartments along Whitehurst, Skillman, Church and Fair Oaks roads.

 

Many residents feel the area’s problems with crime can be traced to 1985 and the Supreme Court’s fair housing ruling, which stated that apartment communities, like those in Vickery Meadow, could no longer be designated as adult-only. Coupled with the continuing real-estate recession of that time, the ruling brought about a substantial shift in the neighborhood’s demographics. By 1992, many of the young, up-and-coming professionals had fled the apartment complexes of Vickery Meadow and were replaced in large part by working families, who were attracted by either Richardson ISD schools for their children or by the complexes’ often fierce competition to attract new residents. Signs that touted “free utilities” or “free first-month’s rent” weren’t uncommon, and they contributed to a trend of drawing lower-income residents who moved often in search of better deals. Over the years, these factors have advanced the deterioration of the properties and, in turn, lowered property values. Take all of these circumstances into account, and there is now a very real perception among Lake Highlands homeowners and apartment dwellers alike that the areas around these apartment complexes aren’t safe.

 

The combined crime statistics through late 2002 for the reporting areas that make up the bulk of this part of our neighborhood (1041, 1042, 1054, 1055 and 1069) confirm that incidents of crime are much higher in this section than in other parts of Lake Highlands:

 

 

Murder: 3

 

Rape: 11

 

Business robbery: 21

 

Individual robbery: 75

 

Aggravated assault: 100

 

Business burglary: 71

 

Residential burglary: 239

 

BMV-related: 332

 

Theft: 277

 

Auto theft: 223

 

 

          In contrast, where fewer apartments exist, fewer crimes occur. Take five reporting areas (1076, 1077, 1088, 1089 and 9609) just southeast of the apartment-congested area, and the statistics show significant drops in crime, particularly thefts, burglaries and robberies:

 

 

Murder: 1

 

Rape: 1

 

Business robbery: 10

 

Individual robbery: 11

 

Aggravated assault: 22

 

Business burglary: 23

 

Residential burglary: 73

 

BMV-related: 99

 

Theft: 122

 

Auto theft: 57

 

 

          “In an area with a high concentration of apartments, you’ve got a lot of people living in a very small space,” says Senior Cpl. Sheila Cavanagh, coordinator for the area’s Volunteers In Patrol program.

 

“Add to that the large population of vehicles, and this becomes a target for motor vehicle-related robberies. The Kingsley and Audelia area also has been significantly impacted by the apartment homes.”

 

          Neighborhood watches have made some impact, says Dallas officer Cayce Shelton, whose regular beat includes an area of Lake Highlands and who patrols the Whitehurst Apartments in his off-duty time.

 

“A couple of years ago, this area was pretty bad in terms of drugs and prostitution,” Shelton says. “You’ve got the constantly moving road traffic that runs by here, as well as the foot traffic, which can sustain this kind of activity.”

 

Since the implementation of neighborhood watch, however, the drug and prostitution activity has declined, Shelton says.

 

But not every apartment complex has implemented a neighborhood watch program and, in fact, many say that a significant factor contributing to crime in Lake Highlands is the laissez-faire mode of management followed by some apartment complex owners.

 

 

Crime Fighters

 

Enter Woods and her group of volunteers in the Lake Highlands Area Improvement Association. The LHAIA, formed in June 2001 with the intention of bettering the reputation and quality of life in the neighborhood, this year intends to begin aggressively addressing the apartments’ effect on neighborhood crime.

 

According to the LHAIA’s research, 120 apartment complexes in the neighborhood have absentee landlords. The lack of informed, on-site landlords translates into sub-par management, providing ideal conditions for festering criminal activity. The LHAIA aims to create a network of members, area business owners and apartment managers who keep in contact with one another regularly, creating a system to minimize what is happening in terms of crime.

 

The LHAIA and like-minded residents have come under fire recently for their challenges to the Dallas Housing Authority’s plan to initiate Section 9 public housing at the Hidden Ridge Apartments at 9702 Ferris Branch. The initiative passed late last year after much heated debate and press coverage that stung some neighborhood residents, who have said they were unfairly portrayed for questioning the appropriateness of public housing in an area already dealing with its fair share of apartment-related issues, including but not limited to crime.

 

“This is not an issue of race. It is about shared values, what we all want for our community,” Woods says. “I don’t want to disrupt anyone’s life. I don’t want to throw a single mother who lives in an apartment out into the street. But we do want those people who are making an income off the properties to act responsibly, not just pull from the property and let someone else take care of the social issues.”

 

The Police Department’s Cavanagh says that officers meet monthly with the apartment managers to discuss eviction issues and to share information. A City of Dallas ordinance states that apartment managers must attend four area meetings a year, but not every manager is complying. The LHAIA intends to hold them more accountable; its research has found a correlation between non-attendee apartment complexes and those with high criminal activity.

 

“If we can pinpoint and prove that tenants and occupants are actually causing problems — crime, drugs, prostitution — then there are things we can do. You can get injunctions against an apartment complex and have them abide by certain procedure rules, such as background checks,” Woods says.

 

Woods is referring to the Dallas Police Department’s Abatement Unit — the S.A.F.E. Team, formed in 1991. As the name implies, S.A.F.E. is an investigative unit that works to assist property owners in the alleviation of crime. When a property owner doesn’t cooperate in the removal of criminal elements, the S.A.F.E. Team has the power to obtain court-ordered injunctions against the property. The team deals with criminal nuisances such as drug manufacturing, trafficking, prostitution, gang activity, illegal gambling, commercial obscenity, sexually explicit dancing and random gunfire.

 

 “We want to put every legal tool in place to force the apartment managers into a higher level of accountability. We’ll help the goods ones be as good as they can be,” Woods says.

 

As for the bad ones: “It’ll be either shape up or get the heck out of dodge.

 

“The goal,” she adds, “is to be proactive, not reactive.”

 

So while criminal activity does indeed continue among Lake Highlands’ urban hodge-podge of apartments, businesses, public spaces and homes, the mechanisms for prevention seem firmly in place. Determined residents organized into 50 neighborhood watch groups, and well-equipped law enforcement personnel remain dedicated to a strong stance against criminals.

 

As Woods says, “We are taking back the community.”