Background picture of my favorite Wichita policeman. He sent me the picture in 2007.
Paying Attention is Important
Rumors
When I first started managing, tenants would come over and tell me a rumor they heard. My boss had briefed me on everyone already. Usually I would ask the tenant if they want to believe the rumor or know the truth. They always wanted to know the truth.
Sheriff's department
We had several women who were hiding from abusive husbands or boyfriends. I had the men's pictures on file and made sure they never found out who lived where.
One night a tenant called me and said someone was breaking in the house behind her. I told her to call the police and she did. The sheriff showed up at my door all upset because we called the police on him. He was looking for the woman's X-husband and broke a window to her house because he "knew she was hiding in there with him."
I informed him that her husband did not live there and never had. She was one of my tenants who was hiding from her husband. I pulled her file and gave him the husband's address and where he worked. I told him he would still be at work for another hour and had he checked with me before he bothered my tenant, he would have saved himself a lot of time and embarrassment.
He promised to repair the tenant's window that he and his deputies had broken. He apologized to me and promised to come to me before he did anything in my community.
They arrested the man that night and repaired the window the next day.
DEA
The DEA dropped in on me one day and informed me they were watching a person in my community that they believed was a drug dealer. They watched him for a year and called me one morning about 8 AM to tell me that they would be making the bust that morning. They waited until the streets were empty.
Two car loads of DEA agents ran down the street with riffles in the air and surrounded the house. They arrested the man and everyone who lived there.
Of course my phones lit up. I told my tenants what was going on and to please stay in their homes where they would be safe. The man who was a drug dealer turned states evidence on much bigger drug dealers, got a new identity and moved to another state.
I put the story in our community news letter after it was all over.
All the managers would meet at the local police station for a meeting once a month. The kept us up on what was going on and who or what to watch for to keep our communities safe.
Wichita Police Department
One of the managers asked why the police department did not inform them when something was happening in their communities so they could be prepared for the phone calls. The answer was they did not believe the manager would keep everything hush - hush until the bust took place.
I spoke up and told them about the DEA and that if I could keep that secret and the sheriff trusted me with information, that they surely could trust me also. They started informing us as things were happening and gave us the results of any activity on their part.
With trust came better cooperation. I made sure the police department and fire department had a map of my communities so they could respond in a timely fashion to any emergency. All of us were able to more effectively manage our communities.
One Good Cop
We had a local police officer who was a really good policeman and a tenant; but he often got the lots mixed up. Thankfully he kept good notes and he would access them when needed.
He would come in and start telling me about people on a certain lot. I would say, "wrong house." He would check his notes and give me the correct lot number. I always knew when he was correct.
One day he was upset with one of his neighbors and came barreling through the door proclaiming, "What kind of people do you lease to?" I could not help myself - I answered, "I don't know. You tell me. I lease to you don't I?" His partner doubled over laughing and he said "That's not funny Fran." He calmed down and told me what was going on.
If I had not known my residents, I would believe the wrong things about the wrong people. I think I evicted 4 families in eight years. Twice it was because they disrupted the neighborhood and the police were involved. Twice it was because the family had gang members living in their homes.
Dangerous Man
God impressed on me that it was extremely important that I know the people who lived in my communities. He would reveal things to me so I would be safe.
There was a man who had junk all over his patio and he also had a 1968 Mustang that he wanted to restore. The junk needed to be in his storage shed and it was against the rules to work on a vehicle in the community. I reached for the phone to call him about the mess and God stopped me. I was impressed that he was a very dangerous man and I should be very careful what I said.
I sat back and thought about the problem. I prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide my tongue and have him be receptive. I called him and explained that if he put the things on his patio in the Mustang and then put a cheap car cover (tarp) over it his patio would look really good. Then when he was ready to restore the Mustang he could rent a storage unit to do it in. In the meantime he would have cheap storage.
He thought that was a wonderful idea and did it.
A couple of times his wife who was a gentle, sweet person came into the office sporting a black eye. I tried to get her to leave her husband before he killed her. She would not and one night about 4 AM he shot and killed her. He got 40 years.
Luke 12:11 "Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."
Rom 13:1-7 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
Titus 3:1-2 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.