EL CAJON–The El Cajon Police Department’s Crime Free Multi-Housing Program (CFMH) will hold their next training session on Thursday, May 6 at the Ronald Reagan Community Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Property owners, managers, leasing staff, maintenance personnel and others in the management team are encouraged to attend the entire 8-hour training program, which is FREE. Participants will receive a certificate acknowledging they have participated in the CFMH Manager’s training
The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program training addresses these topics: Understanding Crime Prevention, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (C.P.T.E.D.), Fair Housing, Community Rules/Policies, Building Apartment Communities, Good Property Management, Combating Illegal Activity (Drugs, Gangs, Graffiti, Etc.), Disaster Preparedness and building a strong partnership with the Police Department, and the Fire Department.
This Crime Free Multi-Housing Program (CFMH) is a state-of-the-art, crime prevention program designed to reduce crime, drugs, and gangs in apartment properties. The El Cajon Police Department adopted the program in 1997 and currently has 150 fully certified communities in the City of El Cajon. Fully certified CFMH communities are now recognized at City of El Cajon Council Meetings.
The Crime Free Multi-Housing Program is a unique, three-phase certification program for rental properties of all sizes. The first phase of the program is the completion of an eight (8) hour program taught by attorneys, police and fire personnel. Often guest speakers will attend to address specific topics relating to rental properties. This police-sponsored program is designed to be very easy, yet extremely effective at reducing criminal activity in rental properties.
In addition to the obvious benefits derived from the program, such as increased revenue, more responsible tenants, less crime and higher occupancy rates, we will seek to obtain other incentives as well. In many areas of the country, participants enjoy discount rates for property insurance, building improvement purchases from local businesses, and other discounts by displaying their certificate of completion from the program.
An additional advantage to being a fully certified CFMH community is that potential tenants can call the police department or check the website www.elcajonpolice.org for a list of fully certified CFMH communities. This list is also available on www.elcajonneighbors.org.
For more information about the CFMH program, or the upcoming training, contact Samantha Scheurn-Hook at (619) 579-4227. For training, RSVP no later than May 3. Reservations are required.
