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April 7, 2010The Citys dangerous-structures ordinance allows the DSDB to raze houses that have become so dilapidated or deteriorated or neglected as to become a harbor for vagrants or criminals. Since DARTs inception, it has become common for officers to testify that not only is a house a wreck, its a magnet for drugs, prostitution, and related criminal behavior. Based on a rough survey of DSDB minutes from January 2009-January 2010, the DSDB voted to demolish structures in 90 percent of the cases in which a police officer said that it was a source of criminal activity. In contrast, the board issued demolition orders in just over 60 percent of the cases in which police officers didnt speak; that number would be much lower if we excluded cases in which the owner said they were planning to demolish the property themselves or agreed to the demolition, and cases in which no one signed up to speak (the other almost-surefire way to lose in front of the DSDB).