Public housing units in several D.C. wards will gain some safety improvements as part of a settlement in a lawsuit.
The D.C. Housing Authority will be required to install and maintain lights and security cameras, hire additional security personnel, secure vacant units, perform daily inspections and perform frequent property maintenance at 10 of its properties in Wards 1, 5, 6 and 7.
Aside from the security upgrades, the housing authority must also do community engagement on a regular and ongoing basis and provide $500,000 in funding over five years for violence-interruption services, a D.C. Attorney General’s Office news release said.
“The agreed upon changes should result in reduced dangerous illegal activity at the properties, eliminate blight, and provide residents at these properties more of a voice in how safety issues are handled,” D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said in a statement.
The properties named in the lawsuit are home to some 5,000 people in more than 2,500 units. They include:
- In Northeast — Kenilworth Courts Apartments, Langston Terrace and Additions, Lincoln Heights Apartments and Richardson Dwellings Apartments
- In Northwest — LeDroit Apartments and Kelly Miller Apartments
- In Southwest — James Creek Apartments and Syphax Gardens Apartments
- In Southeast — Benning Terrace Apartments, Stoddert Terrace Apartments, and at scattered-site public housing properties formerly known as the Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg Apartments
The lawsuit was filed in June and accused the housing authority of violating the Nuisance Act.
