New ordinance helps police keep people out of condemned buildings

Unsafe conditions at two downtown buildings in recent months helped prompt a change in Poplar Bluff ordinances police say will help them in patrolling condemned properties.

Anyone found to be illegally inside a building that has been posted as dangerous can face a fine of up to $500, up to 90 days in jail or both. Police say prior to the ordinance, they were sometimes limited to just ordering people away from a property.

The measure was passed by city council members in May and is in effect now.

It comes after multiple people were evicted from properties in the 200 block of South Main Street and 200 block of South Broadway due to unsafe and unsanitary conditions in January and April.

Officers continued to face reports of people entering the buildings illegally, explained Deputy Police Chief Don Trout. It is something that has been a problem with dangerous properties in the past.

“Code enforcement would condemn a residence or a building, or post it as a nuisance, and we were still having people stay inside the building overnight,” said Trout. “We would have to get a hold of the property owner to get them trespassed for being there. Now we can do it without the property owner.”

If it was the property owner, the city’s only option before the ordinance was to tell them to leave, Trout said.

A property owner or someone they have designated is allowed inside properties to do work, he added.

The issues that concerned police related to people living in dangerous buildings, or the possibility of illegal activities, Trout said.

“It goes back to the broken window theory, when people see this happening, it becomes more accepted,” he continued. “(This) is in trying to alleviate that and clean up areas that need to be cleaned up.

“Code enforcement has become an item of discussion with the council, and we’re looking for different things and different ordinances to help with enforcing violations.”

The city council created the Poplar Bluff Residential Housing Advisory Board in 2018 as part of that effort. It has led officials to several discussions in recent months about the processes in place and where improvements can be made. That has included how to help residents remove trash from their properties and how to improve the appearance of neighborhoods.

In this instance, they found there weren’t many options open to police without this ordinance, city manager Mark Massingham said in May, when the council discussed the matter.

City prosecutor Justin Gregory was tasked with helping develop the ordinance, Massingham said, adding that input was also sought from code enforcement and the police department. The city also researched ordinances from other communities, he said.

The buildings in question are often unsafe, without electricity, water or sewer hookups and can be both a health hazard or fire hazard, Trout said.

Nearly 30 people were evicted from the property on South Main Street, including an unregistered sex offender. The police had multiple reports of people reentering the building after the structure was condemned, Trout said.

Fire hazards were found on every floor at the time it was condemned, including a partially collapsed floor, officials said at the time.

“We’re just happy the city passed this ordinance,” Trout said. “We will use it when we have the opportunity. Hopefully, it will help us in some of those situations where we didn’t have anywhere else to go.”