The concept is simple: If you get to know your neighbors, you’re less likely to do them wrong.
Highland Hills Apartments, in conjunction with Mankato police, held its third annual free lunch for tenants Thursday.
The event under the auspices of the Mankato Crime Free Multi-housing Program (motto: “Keeping illegal activity out of rental property”) used grilled hamburgers to facilitate some group dynamics.
“When people really know each other, they’re less likely to cause harm that affects others. It’s really all about respect,” said Highland manager Jean Klosowski.
The student-intensive Highland Hills is adjacent to the Minnesota State University campus. With 772 units housing 1,800 residents, it’s the largest apartment complex in the Mankato area.
“We’re like a small town here,” Klosowski said.
And as with any large enclave of young people living in close quarters, untoward behavior can flare.
Mankato Department of Public Safety officer Chris Boyce said that’s where the Crime Free Multi-housing Program comes in.
He said it provides landlord training, instructs in ways to prevent crime and fosters neighborliness through free lunch events for tenants.
“It’s a win, win, win for everybody. It’s hard to do something bad (affecting someone else) when you’ve already met that person and looked them in the eye,” said Boyce, who didn’t have precise figures but posited that police calls to the complex have declined since it began participating in the program three years ago.
Ryan Manship, a security supervisor at Highland Hills, said unacceptable tenant behavior such as loud parties is first dealt with in-house. If tenants are unresponsive to requests from security personnel, the next step is taken.
“If it’s a serious thing that’s going on, we’re obviously going to call the police,” Manship said.
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