Jefferson Commons has generated more calls to police than six other area student apartment complexes, according to a three month comparison conducted by the Sacramento Police Department.

As a result, the Police Department and Jefferson Commons will collaborate ideas for stricter eviction and background check policies in a closed meeting Friday afternoon.

A total of 103 calls have been made to the police concerning Jefferson Commons. That total is twice the number of calls made regarding Woodlake Village, an apartment complex that was second highest in the comparison and has twice as many units as Jefferson Commons, Officer Cindy Stinson said in an e-mail.

The Police Department compared the number of disturbance type calls that require the most police hours to resolve. Jefferson Commons had three times as many disturbance calls than the next highest complex, The Villas, Stinson said.

Averaging about 40 police service calls per month, the Police Department is using many of its resources to service Jefferson Commons.

“We are working with the security guards because they don’t always have to call PD. They should solve problems and be preventative,” Sergeant Sam Somers said. “Officers cannot respond to emergencies elsewhere when we send ten or 12 cars to break up a party. It usually takes officers 45 minutes to resolve some disturbance calls.”

Somers said disturbance calls have been made from as far as two blocks away and that loud parties should not impact the community. The Sacramento City Council meeting last week addressed high density housing in the South 65th Street area showing concern for future area complexes.

A representative from JPI, Jefferson Commons’ parent company, said that Jefferson Commons and the Police Department will be meeting this week to address problems and work together to find solutions. The Police Department has identified three points that they will be discussing with Jefferson Commons.

The representative said the meeting will cover 24-hour on-site management staff, in-depth background checks for tenants and a stricter eviction policy.

The eviction policy, as stated on the lease, has three stages. The first stage is a written document that warns the tenant of the violation. The second stage is a fine for the tenant and the third is eviction. These stages of the eviction process are demonstrated directly to tenants because all tenants signed individual leases.

Although evictions affect only the lease of the violator, the Police Department believes that evictions will impact the entire complex.

“Communication between Jefferson Commons and security should move swiftly through the eviction process. If management responds quickly, so not to encourage others, tenants will know what will and will not be tolerated,” Somers said.

Considering only calls made within the Jefferson Commons premises, noise disturbance calls for service are much lower than calls from outside the premises.

Officer Michelle Lazark said that since Sept. 7, 78 calls to the Police Department have been from Jefferson Commons. Ten of the 78 calls were placed by either tenants or security regarding complaints of noise disturbances.

Lazark also said false alarms from the Jefferson Commons office and computer lab is responsible for 13 calls for police service and 12 are related to burglary, petty theft and grand theft.

Chawki Zaguia, American River College student and tenant at Jefferson Commons, is concerned for security at Jefferson Commons.

Zaguia lives in one of three buildings that includes an opening that is not secured by a fence. Buildings 12 and 13, on 65th Street, and Building 14, on 4th Avenue, all have accessible entrances for any person to enter and exit.

Each building has two entrances that are visible by motorists and pedestrians from the sidewalk. A walkway from 4th Avenue leads to an opening in Building 14 while the other openings are surrounded by grass.

A JPI representative recognizes that the complex is not secured by a fence in some areas but is unsure why or who demonstrated concern for enclosing the premises. The representative acknowledged that if enclosing the property could potentially be a solution, the construction of a fence would be considered.

Walter Brown, owner of the security company at Jefferson Commons, says that in order to prevent unwanted guests from entering the property, security will be improving its efforts by hiring more staff and patrolling areas of the complex that are not enclosed.

With the development of Jefferson Lofts, located on Redding Avenue behind Jefferson Commons, the JPI representative says that Jefferson Commons will be used as a model for future JPI communities. If any changes will be made in policies or security JPI says that the tenants will be first to know.