Crime Free Multi-Housing

Many people don't realize that multi-family housing (apartment, town home, and condominium) is a strong component of West Des Moines' residential inventory. Over 18,000 of our residents (35%) live in multi-family dwellings.

Although residents report a very high "feeling of safety" on our citizen surveys, we continue to work in all parts of our community to improve how we deliver public safety services. One important element of that service is crime prevention.

Approximately 10% of the Police Department’s calls for service are to apartment communities. Although that is just a percentage of overall crime, we try and work through management groups and associations to affect a large number of people in multi-housing developments. All of these efforts take shape in the Crime Free Multi-Housing Program (CFMH).

CFMH is a partnership between the WDM Police Department and local apartment complexes. It is essentially a coalition of police, property managers and residents of rental properties working together to reduce crime. This concept was developed in Mesa, Arizona in 1992 and introduced in the Des Moines area in 1996. Our department received its initial training in 1997 and certified its first apartment community, Sun Prairie Apartments, in 1998.

The main tenants of the program are that effective property management can have an impact on the health of the community and that simple, legal, and fair techniques exist to deal with illegal activity. There are three phases to the program - management training, crime prevention through environmental design (which involves inspections and meeting security requirements), and tenant safety training. A complex must complete all three phases to be fully certified. Eight apartment complexes have done so. The Police Department has developed partnerships with an additional 42 apartment communities in West Des Moines to work towards that goal.

Learn more about the phases and tools involved in the program on our website. For more specific information on Crime Free Multi-Housing, you can contact Officer Jeff Hartshorn in the Police Department's Special Operations Unit at 222-3369.