MRG Participates in Project Safeways

April 16, 2013

Project Safeways, a pilot program designed to make apartment communities safer, has become a stand-alone nonprofit as a result of a $450,000 grant from the Plough Foundation, $150,000 from the city’s Gun Down plan, and contributions from MRG, LEDIC Management, and ALCO, the apartment management companies involved in the project. A total of 15 apartment communities will be included in the program that is adopting best-practice crime-fighting techniques used by other cities. These include a no-trespassing model, use of license readers to spot cars not registered with the complex, and real-time security cameras connected to the Memphis Police Department. Two LEDIC properties participated in a pilot of the program and saw a 30 – 80% reduction in crimes in several different categories.

Phyllis Betts, director of the Center for Community Building and Neighborhood Action at husband Dr. Richard Janikowski, also at the University of Memphis, developed the Safeways mode, a data-driven process similar to the Memphis Police Department’s Operation Blue Crush.

According to Jimmy Ringel, MRG COO, participation in the program is a win/win. The obvious win is a safer community for residents but that also will translate into higher occupancy rates, which is good for property owners.