By News Staff
news@abc6.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/abc6
PROVIDENCE, R.I.
(AP) - Several groups want Providence's mayor to veto a revised ordinance
approved by the City Council that targets chronic nuisance properties.
Under the newly worded ordinance, police can
issue a $500 fine if they have to intervene to deal with a property deemed a
public nuisance more than once in six months. A public nuisance is a gathering
where illegal activity creates a "substantial disturbance.''
In a letter to Mayor Angel Taveras, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island and other
civil rights groups call the ordinance "dangerous'' and say it may encourage
racial profiling by landlords.
The groups say it's impossible for landlords
to find tenants who won't ever interact with police and that most discriminate
against would-be tenants "who look a certain way.''
