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The
Las Vegas Crime Free Multi-Housing Program (LVCFMHP) was incepted in May, 1995 by the LVMPD Crime Prevention Detail with the goal of reducing police calls-for-service in apartment communities. This program is based upon the internationally recognized Crime Free Multi-Housing program that was designed in 1992 by Tim Zehring of the Mesa (Arizona) Police Department.
The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program is successful because it approaches crime on many fronts. Neither the police nor property management or residents cannot solve crime problems on their own, however by working together, the result has been the most successful approach to crime in rental communities.
There are three ways criminal activity comes into a rental community: 1) The criminal lives there, 2) The criminal visits friends or family there, or 3) The criminal randomly comes to the property because an opportunity exists. Crime Free Multi-Housing addresses all three of these possibilities. By not renting to people with criminal intent, the likelihood of crime within the community is significantly reduced as are the number of visitors who come to the property with criminal intent. For the opportunistic criminal the use of CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) concepts has been used to combat crimes that may occur on the property.
Phase 1 manager training in the LVCFMHP is required by both Clark County Ordinance (6.12.090) and City of Las Vegas Code (6.09.020) for any property manager responsible for more than four units. It is in this class where the use of the Crime Free Addendum is taught, along with a multitude of ways to target harden properties and strengthen property management’s relationships with both the local police and community residents.