unintended consequences. i am ray suarez, and that is the "inside story." ♪ ♪ [ ♪ ] on "america tonight", raising the rent. 20 million americans called trailer parks home. many fear they are priced out. >> almost everyone in our properties love being here. they are happy. it's a pain because they love t "america tonight"s christopher putzel on the new speculators and communities in their site. and abad blue flu. >> police are not aggressive. they are afraid of being arrested.

if they make a mistake, they are afraid they'll be charged. adam may on the city facing sharp spikes in the murder rates and what might be behind it. . joie chen. we saw the flare of anger and tensions between the communities of colour and police sworn to protect them. into that divide the president takes a bold step, spoking to a national gathering of police chiefs. the first time a president did that. saying officers are unfairly scapegoating and pushing for criminal justice reform. against a backdrop, six months after the baltimore riots. adam may turned to the streets for answers. >> baltimore is a city struggling to find its foolting. >> six months after riots

decimated parts of the city. protesters demanded police reforms as six officers go on gray. >> a great city of america lost control of its streets. ed was a decorated police officer, who went on to lead the baltimore police democrat from 2000 to 2002. he was convicted of misusing city funds. he's a local radio host. >> three days after the bleesh was let off, how long did it take to quell the riot. >> one night. television. >> yes. >> reporter: what went through your mind? >> my role would be the first rock thrown would be the last one, you don't let it by. you don't let the police officers be pelted with concrete and allow teenagers to loot stores, burning livelihoods.

>> reporter: after the riots the dangerous streets of baltimore was worse. 275 murders in 2015, more than new york, with 13 times the population of baltimore. >> i see horrible murders, and you wonder how people can do this. retired police lieutenant stephen tabling was a top investigator. and we spoke to him after the riots, when the spike was starting to break records. >> what do you think is happening in this space. >> what i think is happening is i think police are not aggressive they are afraid of being roasted. if they make a mistake. they are afraid they'll be charged. what is the word on the street? >> get my time and get out. >> in my 32 years. i've never been associated with

police officers would get up in the morning, get out and risk their lives. and let me see whose rights i can violate. >> reporter: this person represents an accused officer in freddie gray's death. he can't discuss the details but speaks to "america tonight". police. >> i don't think spheres get enough credit for what they do. and in this city they bury 100 officers in the line of duty. we see officers working for little money under adverse assistance with not thanks. >> reporter: a new poll finds one in four african-americans believe it's equal treatment by police. some blame nears of an aggressive style known as zero tolerance, in the 2000s arrests

skyrocketed as police conducte random stop and frisk searches. >> there's a fine mine between aggressive policing that is proactive. and on the flipside if the policing is too aggressive, it breaks down the trust in police. also a line between being aggressive. it can harm no one, stop and frisk, if done properly, as long as the officer doesn't go up to corners patting people down. >> coupled with stop and frisk. baltimore accused compstat. a tool that critics say encouraged officers to over-arrest people so they this good numbers. >> looking at any police department. it's a numbers game. >> norris oversaw implementation of the programme.

hoping, he says, to save lives. >> when i moved here, i said this publicly, i got here with 320 murders. i got it down to under 300. it was under 250s. that, still, is 10 times the national average at the time. >> the program was misused by his successors. due to commissioners that took zero tolerance policing too far. >> we targeted minor crimes with a bunch of people drinking or smoking pots. post that, after i left, they were enforcing the minor laws, not with an eye towards solving crimes several administrations ago, but it created animosity. >> chief delegate joe carter is a former mayoral candidate and visit. >> reporter: what is the root

cause of anger and distrust that people have towards city hall. >> it's based on reality, being treated at if they are not humans, there's a boiling point that has to come. we have reached it. carter argued class and racial segregation. living in poverty, turning to the drug trade. the children here, young people, they know they are not wanted in downtown baltimore, it's a city for city hall, and frankly tourism and middle class black and white people. that's the way they feel. if you are poor and black in baltimore, you don't feel that, you are a troublesome presence. >> a city divided by wealth and poverty, race and neighbourhood. opportunity and despair. with police on the front lines. >> "america tonight"'s adam may

joins us, this seems to have heated up the conversation, about the president's push for criminal justice reform and the conversation about police role in the communities. >> it has heated up during a conference of police chiefs, and you are seeing that there's a divide in opinions. the federal bureau of investigation director just the other day - he said that the protests in places like baltimore and ferguson, and the rests of some officers has had almost a chilling effect on police dints, with some fearful of getting out there. on the other hand. the white house was quick to denounce the comments. today you had the president walking a fine line on this issue, praising police officers, saying the evening news does not recognise a lot of work they do, but talking about some of the problems that persist when it comes to race relations in some of the communities. >> i know you have been talking to a lot of street-level

officers, talk to us about the stress they are under now. >> you know, we were smoked to find out in our romping on this issue, that we heard from police officers talking about the stress they are under. i had an officer ask me to give him a ride down it street. and he started to cry. talking about the stress of his job. we dug deeper and are working on a report in a couple of weeks on ttsd among police officers, and the stunning statistic, one study recently done found 100,000 acts if duty police officers in this country with p.t.s.d. related to things that happened to them on the job. one person we spoke to called them the walking wounded. they are officers that have problems. butt out there on the streets, and you have to wonder what effect does that have on the effectiveness for them to do their jobs. >> as we heard, the president is

in his campaign of sorts. not only speaking of the question of what the officer's role is in the community, but seeking support to get criminal justice reform moved through. >> he has the support of police officers. the police chief of baltimore, very supportive of some measures that the police did talk about. you talk to the police officers, and a lot of them i spoke to feels like the president hasn't had their back on issues faced. >> "america tonight"s adam may for us. >> cutting ties. "america tonight"s sara hoy, a follow up report on a practice some say doubles trouble for minor crime. and raising the rejects on residents that can least afford it. are new landlords praying on the poor. hot on the website. learning lessons. what desperate school districts

are doing to find help for their aljazeera.com/americatonight. >> "inside story" takes you beyond the headlines, beyond the quick cuts, beyond the soundbites. we're giving you a deeper dive into the stories that are making our world what it is.

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our fast-forward look at doubling trouble, a controversial method used to collect fines. traffic tickets turned over to for-profit companies to collect. the upshot was that those who could afford to pay got to walk away. those that couldn't found themselves in more trouble. >> reporter: elvis's troubles began in 2006. he was stopped for a broken tail light and ticketed for not having a valid driver's licence. probation. >> i was on probation for $325. >> reporter: he was told to report to this correctional services, j.c.s. they collect fines for violations like drunk-driving speeding or driving without a licence. it charges the offenders a fee

of $35 a month on top of their original fines. >> it was digging a hole deeper and deeper. >> he found himself downing in debt thanks to j.c.s. the cop found old fines that he owed from past offenses dating back from the '90s, disorderly arrest. >> i was a heavy drinker much >> reporter: now sober, married and church going, he was making regular payments to the city. j.c.s. added the fines from the past, which the company blamed was almost $9,000. >> is it illegal to do that? >> yes, it is. >> reporter: the man's attorney filed a class action lawsuit against j.c.s. for praying on the poor. >> they pretend they are a probation service. they are not trained as probation officers.

what it provides to the city is a collection service. >> fast-forward to a break up. the company that had been described a legally sanctions distortion racket lost dozens of towns as clients and has decided to end operations in the state. j.c.s. is at work in georgia and florida. next - priced out - the new rel state speculators and the neighbours desperate to save their homes.

>> we're here to fully get into the nuances of everything that's going on, not just in this country, but around the world. >> ...as if there were no cameras here, would be the best solution.

>> this goes to the heart of the argument >> to tell you the stories that others won't cover. how big do you see this getting? getting the news from the people who are affected. >> people need to demand reform... >> we're here to provide the analysis... the context... and the reporting that allows you to make sense of your world. >> ali velshi on target only on al jazeera america we saw it all over, the cost of homes going up. forcing down those that can afford them. in austin texas, more than 100,000 people move in over five years, the housing crisis is growing accrued for low income residents, and there's concern that the modest shelter they have may be targeted for profit. christopher putzel explains

why roberto and marga reeta sanchez love to throe a party. it's good times like this that helps to keep the close-knit community together. for decades the north ley mar mobile home park was a home to mean latino immigrants. tucked behind a car dealership off the freeway, the north lamarr trailer park sa last affordable place to live in austin texas.

like many high-tech cities. austin is booming. more than 100 move here. gentrification can be moved everywhere. it can be tight. this year, a company, r.v. horizons brought north lamarr. many of the residents here own the trailers, but not the land underneath them. >> what did your prior contracts say. >> now the sanchez's rent has been raised to $450, and they have to pay for water and sewerage separately, adding $150 a month. on top of that there are fees imposed. $50 for more than two cars. $30 for more than four in a home. add that all up, and the

month. >> you used to by $390. now you pay 800. this is more than you expected. . >> the sanchez's came to the gates. it's taking jobs cleaning construction. putting four kids through school. for them, it has been a springboard for a better life for their children. one sa fireman, another attending the university of texas, two are in high school. >> when several residents of north lamarr refused to pay the new amount. they found a notice on the

door - come up with the money in 72 hours or face eviction. >> reporter: can you tell me a do? >> we own and operate parks which is a peace of land with two or more trailers on it. we own 170 parks. frank co-owns r.v. horizons, he and his partner are not the landlords. they are a new breed of owners in the country. >> i got into the park, not knowing what i was doing. it was lucrative. i bought another and another and another.

it fast-forward to today. >> mobile home parks made ralph and his business partner rich. since getting into the" in the 1990s, they have become multi-million airs. ed to they are firing up the parks across the country: more than 20,000 live in portion, and many fear they'll be forced out of their homes. >> ralph admits he raises rent on 70% of parks, and adds utility fees. the money goes to property improvements. he also imposes a code of conduct for residents. >> we call it no pain no stay, no play no stay. if you don't pay by the rules of the park or pay your rent, you have to go. it's like a business, we don't go in - a lot of residents, when you have no rules, they go crazy, they have no boundaries.

>> the tactics and choice of words angered many. he was quoted as saying owning a mobile phone park is like owning a waffle house. mobile homes are not that mobile. it can cost as much as 5,000 to move a trailer. it was part of a cash flow business, here is why. >> customers can't leave. in this business you don't run off. you own your poem. >> what would you say to someone that thinks the business you are in prays on the pore people in the country. pay day lenders, pawn shops pray on people. most everyone can be here. we can pray on them. they love it. can you sympathise because one

of your tenants has paid a certain amount and suddenly there's a hike. >> they were getting a phenomenal free ride. the tenants had been getting a gift of $100. >> that's the way you look at it. >> that's the fact.

alleging that their leases were broken, the residents decided to fight back. they formed a resident's association, with roberto as present. with the help of a legal aid attorney yip, they sued the new owners. greg is the city counciling. >> we are in an affordability crisis. the effects of an urbanizing city and landlords and practices potentially ripping apart a community that established itself. that was doing well. in a stay that was doing well. when you are a working class person, he may be an immigrant. in this case it seems wrong, that people who lived there for a decade who have existing leases were told by someone that never came to the community, that didn't know what it was that they had purchased was ready to tear up to make

money. . >> the reason the residents are now celebrating. after a bitter fight to remain in their homes, the families that live here have scored a victory. ralph decided to hold off on changing leases and evictions until next year, saying he'll make sure he's not imposing them illegally. the sanchezes and neighbours are planning the n move, hoping to form a cooperative and buy the park themselves. ralph told "america tonight" he would be happy to sell the park and is eager to get-north lamarr off its hands. it's a small victory, but for the residents, celebrating. >>

there we go. that is "america tonight". please tell us what you think at aljazeera.com/americatonight. talk to us on twitter and facebook. come back, more of "america tonight" tomorrow. but it's real. and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight.

11 iranian soldiers are reportedly killed in syria in 48 hours. teheran could be invited to take part in international talks in vienna. ♪ ♪ you are watching al jazeera live from our head quarters in doha. also ahead, the somali woman whose alleged rain led to outcry over australia's refugees policy is flown back it australia. we are in the congo where a congressional referendum has given the president a green light to run for a third term. >> reporter: i am emma hayward, these wrs