Feral cats, the right to use natural gas, and the fact that Albany does not collect the transient lodging tax from bed-and-breakfasts… What do these topics have to do with each other?
Albany has banned unauthorized camping on public property and set up a zone from which the municipal court may banish repeat criminals for up to a year. Both measures are in effect starting now.
A proposed crackdown on crime and other problems associated with vagrancy in Albany turned into a public debate before the Albany City Council Wednesday about what to do — and not to do — about the homeless.
Albany officials are poised to get tough — or tougher — on abandoned vehicles and houses, and on behavior that drags down the quality of life especially in the central part of town. You might call it a combined campaign against crime and the messes people leave behind.
Offender exclusion zone: Why still have it?
Five years after it was adopted, Albany’s law on excluding “persistent” criminals from the central part of town has proved either useless or unnecessary. Either way, it is not being applied.
Tags: Central Albany, crime, enhanced enforcement, exclusion zone, law enforcement, persistent crime