Ansonia is one of many cities in Connecticut that has seen a rise in foreclosures. Now the mayor is working with police to patrol and protect those vacant properties.
"It's scary because the home has been vacant for so long," says Ansonia resident Susanna Kurus. She is raising her family next door to a foreclosed home on the Pulaski Highway. "Sometimes we see cars going in and out of there. But with everything going on today, it's happening more and more. You are seeing more homes vacant because of foreclosures."
Ansonia Mayor Jim Della Volpe says there are as many as 50 foreclosed homes in the city.
He's asked police to step up patrols near the vacant homes to make sure vagrants and criminals aren't attracted to the vacant buildings.
The idea came after fire, not foreclosure, left a home on Division Street empty.
"I was told by police that they caught a couple of guys in there trying to rip some copper tubing out," Della Volpe said.
Police will now make extra patrols around vacant properties to keep out burglars and blight. City staff are now compiling a list of foreclosed properties that will be given to the police chief.
