1456 Oak St. is an apartment building of approximately 50 units that caters almost exclusively to persons eligible for Section 8 housing vouchers. The property had been the source of numerous drug complaints for selling drugs in the hallways, the grounds and in several apartments. It also had a history of recent neglect due to an unusual ownership situation. The building is now under the defacto control of District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA).
          
The Third District Community Prosecution team from the U.S. Attorney’s Office began working to combat the drug nuisance on this property in the fall of 2004. Prosecutors worked with a special Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) unit to give special attention to persons arrested in and around the property. After making numerous arrests for narcotics violations on the property, Community Prosecutors and attorneys from the Office of the Attorney General met with representatives of the managing agent of the building, the ownership board of directors and DCHA. After detailing the problem to this group, a plan was formulated that allowed for all parties to work together to abate the nuisance. The ownership group has now invested nearly $400,000 in improvements to the property. DCHA has regular patrols in and around the building. Barring notices are being used to keep drug dealers off the property and cars are being towed that are improperly tagged or unregistered. This effort also encompassed the issuance by the management firm of the building of several 30 day notices to vacate to tenants that had been found to be involved in the narcotics business. Finally, from intelligence gathered throughout the investigation, the main narcotics dealer was identified and arrested and now has pending felony drug charges.

Third District MPD officers report that the amount of illegal activity in the building has dropped dramatically and they no longer view the premises as the problem it once was. In addition, funding has been secured to completely refurbish the building. In anticipation of the beginning of construction, relocation of residents will begin in the early fall of 2005. Finally, calls for service to the address have dropped precipitously, with nearly a three-fold drop from the time period before the abatement team became involved and the six months after it began to work on the property.