Thread: Shopping Center Owner's Letter Okays Crackdown

Article published Oct 18, 2007
Owner's letter OKs crackdown


October 18, 2007


By Gary Emerling - The company managing the Rhode Island Place shopping center has authorized the Metropolitan Police Department to crack down on crimes being committed by day laborers who go there seeking work.

The company, Carl M. Freeman Retail LLC, said the Northeast shopping center is private property for merchants and shoppers but has now become a haven for loitering, public drinking and urination.

"There is zero tolerance for this, and we give full authorization for the ... police department to make any arrest for these violations," Emily Herson, a Freeman property manger, said in a letter to police.

Brentwood-area residents also have complained about the crimes, including a brawl involving day laborers who gather each day near a Home Depot at the shopping center on Rhode Island Avenue Northeast. They say the behavior of the laborers — a group that typically includes illegal aliens — has occasionally made them feel unsafe.

"Right now, they're laying there beside the wall ... sitting there, drinking beer, smoking weed," said resident Charles Appling. "There's another guy standing up there on the walkway, and of course he's going to be their lookout as the police pull up."

Kim Damion, a Freeman spokeswoman, said she is not clear about who requested the letter or why police would need authorization to make an arrest at the shopping center.

Police spokeswoman Traci Hughes also said she was not clear about who requested the Oct. 3 letter and why it was needed.

She said on-duty and off-duty officers working security at private establishments retain full police powers on such details.

"If an officer sees that there is a crime taking place, that officer does have the authority to take immediate action," Miss Hughes said.

Police officials who responded to a request for statistics on recent crimes at the shopping center and the surrounding area yesterday said the information would likely not be available until next week.

D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr., Ward 5 Democrat, who represents the area, said the letter will give police clearer authority to arrest anyone committing offenses at the shopping center, not just day laborers.

"It gives some clarity that they have the ability to enforce any offense that would be illegal on that site, no matter who it is," he said.

Mr. Thomas has proposed placing a training center at or near the shopping plaza that would connect day laborers and local residents to jobs, while also curbing public-nuisance complaints.

The council member said recently that he is continuing to search for a suitable site for the center.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbc ... 80061/1004

I know a suitable site how about the local employment office. Why do these people need to stand around like vagrants if their legal?? If I needed a job I wouldn't be standing on a street corner, I'd go to an employment office, look in the classified or do what most legal citizens do.

But, that is the trouble. They are not legal citizens. That is why they have to lurk around. They know they can do this without being hassled due to law enforcement not enforcing our laws.

Besides, they can't smoke pot and drink beer and urinate in the bushes at the unemployment office.

That owner needs to cal I.C.E