Wheeling Safe Communities Program


The Wheeling Safe Communities (WSC) program is a state-of-the-art, crime prevention program designed to reduce crime, drugs, and gang activity in rental properties. This program is based on the Crime Free Multi-Housing program, which was successfully developed at the Mesa Arizona Police Department in 1992, and has since been adopted by nearly 2,000 cities in 44 U.S. states, 5 Canadian Provinces, Mexico, England, Finland, Japan, Russia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Puerto Rico.

The Wheeling Safe Communities Ordinance requires that all landlords and/or property managers complete a mandatory seminar, offered on various days of the month and taught by Wheeling Police Officers (click here for instructions for registering for upcoming seminars) In addition, landlords will be required to use a crime free lease addendum when renewing a lease or renting to a new resident.

Seminar Outline:


  • Crime Prevention Theory
  • Theory of physical security - Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
  • Benefits of Resident Screening, including Criminal Background Checks
  • Lease Agreements and Eviction Issues
  • Key Control and Master Key Use
  • On-Going Security Management Monitoring and Responding to Criminal Activity
  • Gangs, Drug Activity, and Crime Prevention
  • Legal Warnings

Important Links:

For more information please contact the Wheeling Safe Communities Coordinator at (847) 459-2996.