KENNESAW — For more than a year, Mike Drake of Kennesaw has had to look at the eyesore of a house next door to his on Dillard Drive, with its boarded-up windows, decaying newspapers in the driveway and overgrown lawn.

He said the house — which he believes a mortgage company owns — was foreclosed on. The for sale sign has long been pulled down. It’s been left vacant, he said, which has caused him some concern. “We think there’s some people every now and then going in there who aren’t suppose to be in there,” Drake said.

Such vacant and neglected properties have led the Cobb Police Department’s northwest precinct to initiate a program whereby residents can report vacant and neglected homes they suspect may be in violation of county ordinances or state laws to police. It says the program has been successful at getting the properties cleaned up, which leaves neighborhoods safer.

Since beginning the program in June, 40 properties — mostly homes — have been reported, according to police. Police said they’ve made contact with those responsible for all but about eight of the properties.

“We came up with the idea because of the current economy,” said Lt. Cheryl Shepard, head of the program. “Many of the homes are in limbo. They’ve been foreclosed upon — there’s not a resident in the home — but it hasn’t been turned over to a bank yet.”

Shepard said police attempt to contact at least a management company, which will sometimes take care of maintaining the properties until a bank or new owner assumes ownership. If a property in code violation is listed with a real estate company, then the county public safety department’s Code Enforcement or Quality of Life units will seek to enforce the law, she said.

“It’s not necessarily tall grass we’re looking at,” Shepard said. “Some of the homes, I’ve found, were unsecured, which could provide a haven for criminal activity.”

Foreclosures in Cobb are at a record high. So far this year, 11,083 properties have been advertised for foreclosure auctions, which is a 58.4 percent increase over the 6,993 advertised during the same period in 2008.

Of the department’s five precincts, Precinct 1 is the only one with such a vacant property program.

Precinct 1 includes areas near Kennesaw and Acworth in the northwest corner of Cobb. The neighborhoods in which police have found vacant and neglected homes vary across the socio-economic scale, police said, from $100,000 to $400,000 homes.

“When people stop caring about their homes or neighborhoods it all seems to decline, and that’s what we want to prevent,” Shepard said.

The success of the Precinct 1 program is largely attributed to the department’s Police E-Mail Notification System. Established in the fall of 2006, PENS allows police to communicate directly with residents and business owners via e-mail about crime trends and other information in their local precincts.

Most of the people who have contacted police about neglected homes have been neighbors or Homeowners Association presidents, Shepard said.

Cobb police Lt. Mark Chenoweth, who started PENS, said it has been a big help in the department’s efforts to better communicate with residents.

“It’s given them a point of contact with the police department to talk about things that are a concern to them,” he said. “It’s given us a vehicle to use to report a particular crime trend that we’re seeing to the community.”

Residents of Cobb Police Department’s Precinct 1 are asked to continue to report vacant and neglected homes they suspect are in violation of county ordinances or state laws to zone1pens@cobbcounty.org. afety department’s Code Enforcement or Quality of Life units will seek to enforce the law, she said.

“It’s not necessarily tall grass we’re looking at,” Shepard said. “Some of the homes, I’ve found, were unsecured, which could provide a haven for criminal activity.”

Foreclosures in Cobb are at a record high. So far this year, 11,083 properties have been advertised for foreclosure auctions, which is a 58.4 percent increase over the 6,993 advertised during the same period in 2008.

Of the department’s five precincts, Precinct 1 is the only one with such a vacant property program.

Precinct 1 includes areas near Kennesaw and Acworth in the northwest corner of Cobb. The neighborhoods in which police have found vacant and neglected homes vary across the socio-economic scale, police said, from $100,000 to $400,000 homes.

“When people stop caring about their homes or neighborhoods it all seems to decline, and that’s what we want to prevent,” Shepard said.

The success of the Precinct 1program is largely a result of the department’s Police E-Mail Notification System. Established in the fall of 2006, PENS allows police to communicate directly with residents and business owners via e-mail about crime trends and other information in their local precincts.

Most of the people who have contacted police about neglected homes have been neighbors or Homeowners Association presidents, Shepard said.

Cobb police Lt. Mark Chenoweth, who started PENS, said it has been a big help in the department’s efforts to better communicate with residents.

“It’s given them a point of contact with the police department to talk about things that are a concern to them,” he said. “It’s given us a vehicle to use to report a particular crime trend that we’re seeing to the community.”

Residents of Cobb Police Department’s Precinct 1 are asked to continue to report vacant and neglected homes they suspect are in violation of county ordinances or state laws to zone1pens@cobbcounty.org.