Media

Northaven Beautification Effort To Target Crime and “Broken Windows”

Release Date: March 7, 2005

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office will be working with several agencies to help correct hundreds of health code and zoning violations in the Northaven neighborhood, located near Shelby Forest in North Shelby County.

“Northaven is home to many proud and civic-minded residents who keep their property looking nice. These residents have asked our help to address reports of illegal dumping, abandoned properties littered with debris, and inoperable and abandoned vehicles. These issues breed crime and we must take an aggressive stand about these environmental violations if we’re to help reduce crime in this neighborhood. This will be part of an on-going effort to be of help to Northaven residents,” said Shelby County Sheriff Mark H. Luttrell, Jr.

Graduate students with the University of Memphis, Department of Criminology, have joined with the Sheriff’s Office and the Shelby County Mayor’s Office in the effort called, “Northaven Pride.” For the past couple of months the University of Memphis students have been in the neighborhood documenting the code violations.

This Saturday, March 12, about 50 people from various agencies will be canvassing the Northaven community delivering notices to all 1300 homes in the neighborhood which will urge property owners to correct any zoning or heath code violations on their property.

“This is an excellent example of how Shelby County government can address important issues in the community. Our goals are to reduce crime and restore pride to this neighborhood,” said Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton.

Additionally, a supervised team of inmates from the Shelby County Corrections Center will be cleaning vacant lots and removing discarded furniture, trash, tires and other debris that litter the curbside in many parts of the neighborhood.

Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputies will also be issuing “intent to tow” notices on abandoned, inoperable cars on the streets.

Within a couple of weeks, zoning and health department inspectors will return to the Northaven area to issue citations for code violations that have not been corrected by property owners.

The clean-up project will begin at 9 a.m. at Northaven Elementary School, located at 5157 North Circle Road. The work teams will be in the neighborhood through the afternoon hours.

At 1 p.m., Sheriff Luttrell and Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton will take questions from the media. The news conference will be held at Northaven Elementary School, 5157 North Circle Road, at the Sheriff’s Office Mobile Command Center.