Oklahoma City's Most Dangerous Apartment Complexes

Thousands of Oklahomans call them home. Just about every day a crime is committed at an apartment. Residents shouldn't have to live in fear. That was the case for one apartment resident, afraid to share her identity.

She and her family lived at Britton Courtyard for several years. She never had a problem, until a few months ago when she came home to a nightmare.

"The door was kicked in," she said. "You could see where the lock and wood chips from the side of the door were on the ground."

While she was at school, thieves broke into her home, ransacking the place and stealing a long list of valuables.

"I was so upset. I was angry. I was sad," she recalled.

This break-in was not an isolated incident. We pulled a year's worth of Oklahoma City Police records from 18 metro apartment complexes. The one with the most call: Britton Courtyards. Officers were called there more than 900 times in a 12 month period, for crimes ranging from burglaries, assaults, even rape. One-third of the complexes had hundreds of calls to police, including several locations near Northwest 122nd and Pennsylvania Ave.

Oklahoma City Police Sgt. Jennifer Wardlow said apartment complexes aren't any different than a typical neighborhood. There's one key reason why apartment residents can be easy targets.

"You have a large concentration of people in one area, obviously a large concentration of vehicles, "Sgt. Wardlow said.

Many apartments have security features, like gates, cameras and extra lighting, to improve safety, something this mom wishes her former complex had done.

"Does someone else have to get murdered again? Is there going to be more crime before you realize or do we just not matter?"

Not every police call is for a violent crime. We found many 911 hang up calls, welfare checks and loud music reports as well.

Safety advice from police:

For residents:

• get to know neighbors
• have neighbors watch your property for suspicious activity
• hold neighborhood watch meeting
• call police if something doesn't look right
• don't keep expensive belongings in your vehicle - to entice thieves to break in
• park as close to door as possible

What complexes can do:

• extra lighting
• gated entrances
• security patrol
• security cameras

Police calls to OKC apartment complexes:

March 2013-February 2014

• Britton Courtyards - 963 calls
• Artisan Ridge - 435 calls
• Highlands - 407 calls
• Raindance - 394 calls
• The Village at Stratford - 352 calls
• Grouse Run - 247 calls
• Lincoln Greens - 222 calls
• Mosaic - 188 calls
• The Portland House - 162 calls
• Raleigh Square - 120 calls
• Madison Village - 79 calls
• Grand Blvd. Townhomes - 75 calls
• Aspen Walk - 55 calls
• Sunnyview - 46 calls
• Cherrywood - 35 calls
• Heritage Park - 34 calls
• Cherry Hill - 8 calls
• Persimmon - 4 calls