SUPERIOR TWP., MI – Taking a break from grilling hot dogs during a small community gathering, Antonio Washington tried to capture the essence of his challenges as a resident of Sycamore Meadows apartments while his five children scurried around him.
Over the past few weeks, the complex had been subject to alleged retaliatory eviction notices and two shootings within days of each other in the area referred to as “The Green,” leaving Washington to analyze life as he knows it inside a complex he’s been “in and out of” his whole life.
On one hand, he’s skeptical of law enforcement’s potential to abuse its authority when tenants are trying to go about their daily lives. On the other, he realizes crime happening at the complex is often spurred by outsiders or young people making poor decisions.
“Some people pick sides on what they feel is right,” Washington said, regarding Sycamore Meadows’ tenants experiences with both law enforcement and property management. “I don’t have dealings with that. I don’t let my children go running around there.
“Some people think help (from the police) is danger, but some people need to think and not react.”
Those recent events have put the MacArthur Boulevard neighborhood where Sycamore Meadows is located back in the spotlight, with residents and advocates calling for better security and less of a law enforcement presence on responses to calls for non-violent crimes.
Sycamore Meadows residents fight for better housing, end to gun violence
Washington’s wife, Keisha, said addressing issues at Sycamore Meadows is complicated. She feels there shouldn’t be large-scale, strength-in-numbers responses to the incident on June 4 that led to eviction notices being served to several residents, but ultimately fears for the safety of her children when hearing about the shooting on July 7.
“It would be an all right community if there wasn’t no shootings,” she said. “People that don’t pay don’t know how it feels to keep your home. I pay my rent. I pay real bills. My kids can’t even go outside.”
Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office Director of Community Engagement Derrick Jackson said there have been several strategies over the past dozen years to try to improve law enforcement’s relationship with Sycamore Meadows, a 262-unit HUD-subsidized affordable housing complex.
During that time period, the sheriff’s office has continued to assign two specific officers to the complex to help create familiarity and trust between tenants and law enforcement, Jackson said, which was illustrated during the June 4 incident that resulted in evictions for some tenants.
“It’s important for officers to know the people in the community they’re going to work in,” Jackson said. “What you can see (in the June 4 video) is that the officers know some of the people in the neighborhood. That helps to decrease some of the tension.”
Addressing violence
The Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office has tried various tactics to reduce crime in the neighborhood that consists of two low-income apartment complexes - Sycamore Meadows and Danbury Park Manor - and about 2,100 single-family homes, 40% of which are rentals, according to U.S. Census data.
Shortly after Jerry Clayton became sheriff in 2009, the department got the liquor license suspended for the Superior Party Store that was a hub for criminal activity, established a neighborhood policing team, took steps to keep unauthorized visitors out of Sycamore Meadows and Danbury Manor and launched youth sports programs in the area.
One thing law enforcement and tenants can agree on is much of the crime perpetuated in the neighborhood comes as a result of outsiders who don’t live in the complex causing problems.
While the vast majority of calls the sheriff’s office responds to comes from the tenants themselves, Jackson estimated 80% of the incidents in question are caused by outsiders.
Shyanne Gamble, 4, plays with a cotton "snowball" as her mother, Marcy Schwab, speaks with her brother, Marley Montgomery, 8, at Schwab's home in Sycamore Meadow Apartments in Ypsilanti Township Friday, April 12 2019. Schwab has since moved out of the apartment, but is back living in the Ypsilanti area.The Ann Arbor News
“Some of the ongoing problems that still go on today is the gun violence and most of the time it’s people who don’t live there,” said Marcy Schwab, who lived in Sycamore Meadows for 17 years before moving last year. “That is always my main concern.”
In a survey the sheriff’s office did several years ago, Jackson said it became clear from several examples that the drug enforcement they were doing at the complex was not effective.
The complexities of the neighborhood, he said, have forced them to reconsider those enforcement strategies to look after tenants who more than likely are not the perpetrators of drug crimes.
“What would happen is a lot of these young women would have a boyfriend over who would slowly take over the house,” Jackson said. “They were having a horrible time getting that young man out of the house. The family or mom would then get in trouble and the dope dealer would move on to the next apartment. It really has forced us to adapt to thinking about things differently.”
Regarding the July 7 shooting, Jackson said no arrests have been made, but a search warrant was executed on July 8, with video showing the shooting suspect fleeing into one of the apartments in the complex.
A search warrant was executed at that apartment, where evidence tying back to the shooting was recovered, Jackson said.
6-year-old boy, two men injured in recent Washtenaw County shootings
“We have a shooter that was willing to fire a weapon indiscriminately, in broad daylight,” Jackson said. “He was willing to shoot someone, hit a six-year-old and eight other homes.
“If we are serious about living in a safe neighborhood then we need residents to step up, come forward and help identify this shooter,” he added, noting those with information should call the sheriff’s office’s confidential tip line at 734-973-7711.
Other residents feel non-violent incidents that occur within the complex aren’t deserving of significant police presence.
The June 4 incident and other more random encounters with police, Keisha Washington said, are examples of law enforcement over-policing the area.
“It was too many (officers). I would like to see less people,” Washington said. “My husband can’t even take my son to the grocery store to get him a snack without getting pulled over.”
Fighting for quality of life
In a request to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson to investigate the reason behind the eviction notices at Sycamore Meadows, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn expressed concern about the living conditions at the apartments after years of concerns raised over its poor ventilation and maintenance.
More than 90% of the complex’s apartments failed inspections in 2018, according to Superior Township records obtained by MLive/The Ann Arbor News, though new management bumped that rate down closer to 40 percent by the end of that year.
A bullet hole pierces siding in Sycamore Meadow Apartments in Ypsilanti Township Friday, April 12 2019.The Ann Arbor News
The property manager and representatives from Sycamore Meadows’ corporate offices could not be reached for comment for this story.
Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners Vice Chairman Ricky Jefferson, D-Ypsilanti, said he has reached out to management to see if they would rescind the evictions, stressing his concerns about evicting tenants in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our stance is, don’t give them the notices in the first place,” Jefferson said during the community gathering. “There was really no block party – there were people out on a hot summer night, where they can find some type of relief from a hot house.”
Accusations of retaliatory evictions near Ypsilanti may lead to federal intervention
Two of the most common desires of tenants regarding improving conditions at Sycamore Meadows are allowing them to install air conditioners in their windows, which they claim currently isn’t allowed, and upgrading the level of security at the complex that limits entry points for guests.
“I’ve talked to them about getting a big black gate,” Antonio Washington said. “I think everybody wants (more security).”
Jackson said he’s recommended additional lighting and keeping shrubs trimmed to help with crime prevention by environmental design, as well as hiring private security to make the complex safer for all residents.
The complex has security cameras that are used frequently by management, he said.
“It’s a tool that they use, probably even more than we use for crime-fighting stuff,” Jackson said.
With her 20-year-old son taking over the apartment she leased at Sycamore Meadows, Schwab said she is still invested in the neighborhood, despite the fact that she says she can’t return because her 9-year-old was traumatized by the experience.
Keeping a closer eye on who enters the complex, she said, has been an ongoing need for Sycamore Meadows.
“Honestly, it needs to be a gated community,” she said. “I think that would help tremendously with only one way in and one way out.”
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