I was just thinking about this the other day for some reason.

America is a free country, where you are free to move just about anywhere you want to.

Can a town ban people from moving into a city to prevent the growth of crime?

Like you know how Trenton has topped the most dangerous cities list in the U.S. for years now. Do you think criminals might actually move there because they know that there is such a bad crime problem and that police can't get control of the situation?

And to take my question even further, can a city check a person's criminal record and if their record is bad then not allow them to move there? I assume they would have to make a law? And you could get specific with the criminal record like if you've been convicted of murder or other crimes (robbery) a certain amount of times.

 

there are already laws in many areas preventing registered sex offenders from living near schools and etc. if a city wanted to they could extend that to include other offenses. so sure it's possible but i don't know if it would be constitutional.

 

That's exactly what I was wondering, whether or not it's against federal law.

 

It could be constituional seeing as the law for sex offenders keeps them from living in a specific area, but if you forced a similar law on criminals I think there would be an out cry from the surrounding areas that they don't want them either. Much like sex offenders no one would want a registered gang member in their community either.

Also most of these gang members/criminals don't have a lot of money (well most don't) by forcing them outside of the city where housing is cheaper and into the surrounding areas you would also depreciate the value of the homes in the community as some form of lower income housing arrangements would have to be made, as there is only so many motels.

Also the gangs do opperate based off a local chain of command but keep in mind that alot of Trenton's gangs come from East coast influences so if you keep registered members out of a certain area how much will this prevent? My guess not much. Also just because they live outside of a certain area does not stop them from driving back into it running their gang activities and then leaving.

Now if you say then keep them from returning, I would ask how? Living in Central NJ I know that currently the Trenton Police force is understaffed. So in short a law could be passed but I don't think there is enough man power in Trenton to enforce it.