There is a high-rise building that's been set up since 1998 for poor and elderly. The bottom two floors, however, weren't leased for the deal. Those floors have been taken over by various sorts of thugs. These are apparently, merely squatters. Lotsa drug dealing and all the other crap. Cops get called several times a day.
The governmental solution? Condemn the building.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/ED2F99B893C2B875862572AD000DFFDC?OpenDocumentMy hangup with the deal: Government money is used to subsidize the folks who are legal residents. They're spending a ton to move folks out of the building. Then a bank is supposed to repo the building.
My notion? Instead of the money spent on sending local cops there, over and over for no accomplishment, why not hire some badges to go in and clean up the place? Live there and keep the crudheads out? Once it's cleaned out of the crooks, it ought to be fairly easy for a half-dozen permanent guards to maintain order. And a helluva lot cheaper.
And send a message to crooks, "We cleaned this up; your housing project is next."
