BUENA PARK

The Police Department may send out as many as 30 letters this year to landlords who would eventually have to evict tenants arrested on suspicion of drug- or gang-related crimes. Capt. Gary Hicken made that estimate Tuesday based on the number of letters sent out since the City Council approved the ordinance in February. Landlords are required to begin the eviction process only after police send a second letter requiring an eviction. Yet all landlords who have received the first letter notifying them of an arrest have begun the eviction process.

So far, police have sent out letters to three landlords regarding tenants arrested for drug-related crimes. Hicken plans to send out another this week for a drug-related arrest and a fifth one soon for an arrest involving a possible gang-related shooting.

Civil libertarians have denounced the ordinance as being unconstitutional because it requires only an arrest rather than a conviction before eviction. In response, Hicken said in most cases the department probably will wait for a conviction before sending out an eviction letter.