New ownership at a troubled North Arlington apartment complex is working with police and the city to turn things around.
When Whispering Woods Apartments was Forest Hills Apartments, it used to have a reputation.
"In the beginning when we took over, not even the pizza wanted to deliver," said Antonio Hernandez, who became the property manager in January when new ownership took over.
But Whispering Woods saw a 60 percent drop in apartment burglaries and a 44 percent in thefts in a one-year period alone, Arlington police said.
When Hernandez came on, the complex was a hot bed for crime, drugs and gang activity that Arlington police say spilled over to nearby neighborhoods and businesses.
Authorities identified several violent offenders in several of the complex's 1,800 units. Police said some tenants had safety concerns but were hesitant to call authorities.
The police department's Crime Prevention Unit began meeting with new management to plan community watch meetings and mobilize more people for Citizens on Patrol, a wing of the police department that deploys trained volunteers into communities to help fight crime.
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"The property had a lot of violations and a lot of issues, and our goal was to make it ready for the community," Hernandez said.
Now, some Whispering Woods employees even live on the property, offering tenants incentives for getting involved in preventing crime.
The owners also invested in new plumbing, sheet rock and walls -- "new everything," said Hernandez, including new tenants.
It meant evicting problematic tenants with criminal records, putting in a stricter screening process for new tenants that includes financial and criminal background checks and having a stepped-up police presence with regular patrols from Arlington police gang and auto theft units.
"It really does help out, because when people see police they know it's not always bad -- they're patrolling and keeping us safe," tenant Laura Luna said. "Now I feel so much safer walking around at night."
"We're just a small part of Arlington, and I think if a lot of communities, a lot of apartment complexes, can do what we did, it can be safer," Hernandez said. "It's a safe community, it's a safe city, but it can be safer."
