PEPP’s original position was to eliminate the use of Criminal Background checks as a tool for landlords to use in tenant screening. In March of 2000, the Moorhead police department did implement changes that limited the type of information being reported to landlords. The police department now produces amended printouts of "involvement’s" with the police that are not over 10 years old. The CID Database report is purged of instances where the person reported a crime, was a victim, a witness, or was simply mentioned in a report.

These were important and worthwhile changes, however the police Department continues to report people as "suspects" and list arrests without any conviction information. Our current position is that the Moorhead Police Department should eliminate the use of Suspect on CID’s and only list Arrests that are associated with a conviction when producing a background report for a landlord.

There are three major reports that supports PEPP’s position on the CID Issue.

The first report supporting our position was published in January 2001. January 2001.   This is a report of the Minnesota Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights from their fact finding meeting that was held in May of 1999.

In the section on Findings and Recommendations, 3. Public Safety, the commission states the following finding and recommendation:

• Finding 3.2. The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program provided to landlords promotes de facto segregation in housing by virtue of its adverse impact on Latinos and American Indians. The Committee is troubled by ties between police and landlords in providing data on prospective tenants. The Committee holds that such a practice goes far beyond normal police functions, may violate state privacy laws, and certainly adds fuel to the distrust that exists between the minority community and the police.

• Recommendation 3.2. The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program needs reassessment. First, that reassessment should be done in open meetings so that the public can view and hear all elements brought to bear on both the purpose and implementation of the program. Second, now that there is some history of the program an assessment should be done considering the demonstrated—not hypothetical—benefits of the program against the costs of the program both in terms of policing resources and the social costs of marginalizing the minority community.

• Objective 6: Background information given to landlords by the police department on potential renters wi11 contain only criminal conviction information. The word "suspect" needs to be removed tom CID reports. "Suspect" can be misinterpreted or inappropriately used. A follow-up study of the Criminal Background check needs to take place.

• Modify the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program Related to Criminal Background Checks - The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program and the implementation of criminal background checks have received almost unanimous support from developers, builders, and advocates alike by providing a tool to ensure safe living environments for renters. The City provides landlords with information from the Central Intelligence Database (CID), which contains more information than Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) report and other methods. Advocacy groups feel that the criminal background check should be limited to convictions (currently, information regarding suspect,- arrest, and convictions is released). The Police Department believes that, because all information in a CID report is public information, landlords should utilize their discretion in what information they receive through this voluntary program. Several recent changes implemented by the Police Department have addressed some concerns of the advocacy groups. The groups also suggested the City of Moorhead seek a private agency to conduct the background checks in the future. This would result in landlord costs that would be passed along to housing applicants.

• Recommendation: The City of Moorhead should promote the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program as a true asset to the community by providing promotional materials, such as signs, plaques, and other acknowledgments to those rental property owners that participate in the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program.

• Recommendation: The City of Moorhead should further modify the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program procedures to eliminate any references listing "suspect" and/or calls for detox service from the background report release form, limiting information released to arrests and convictions unless otherwise requested by the landlord.

It is the position of the PEPP CID group that if the City council of Moorhead insists that the Moorhead Police Department continue to provide background checks as a part of the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program, that the use of "suspect" on CID’s should be eliminated and that no arrests should be listed without a corresponding conviction on the record.

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