Fort Worth is rolling out a new kind of crackdown on its most stubborn problem properties, and city leaders say this one is meant to stick. The Nuisance Enforcement Task Force, better known by its catchier brand NET Force, will hone in on a short list of addresses that have racked up police runs, code complaints and neighbor frustration for years.
City staff outlined the pilot at a recent council briefing, describing NET Force as a coordinated, multi-department push that pulls in police, fire, code compliance, development services, environmental services and the city attorney's office. According to the City of Fort Worth, the pilot is scheduled to kick off in January, with staff planning to return in roughly six months to report back on progress and costs.
Officials have already circled four early targets for NET Force attention: the Eco Motel on East Lancaster Avenue, two convenience stores on Hemphill Street and the Sandy Oaks Apartments. Those sites were picked for their long records of crime and code problems. The Eco Motel alone logged nearly 480 police service calls between January 2024 and October 2025, according to FOX 4.
How NET Force Will Work
Instead of waiting for neighbors to complain every time something goes wrong, NET Force is designed to flip the script to proactive, joint inspections and coordinated follow-up. Teams will share an internal dashboard to track cases, enforcement steps, and outcomes so problem properties do not fall through the cracks.
According to reporting on the city's cost estimates, the pilot could run about $3.5 million a year while the new system is tested.
Residents Push For Action
For neighbors living next door to these addresses, the pilot is overdue. Residents told FOX 4 that late-night disturbances, constant police activity and the steady churn of code issues have worn down their quality of life.
City officials say the whole point of NET Force is to bring faster relief to those blocks by putting multiple departments on the same page and holding property owners to clearer standards, according to the City of Fort Worth.
What's Next
Inspection teams are expected to start visiting the selected properties in January. Throughout the pilot, staff will log hours, costs and enforcement steps so the City Council can decide whether the experiment is worth expanding.
Video of the council briefing and additional coverage of the pilot can be found through WFAA and other local outlets.
Legal Tools And Possible Outcomes
On the legal side, city attorneys are working on an ordinance that would formally label certain locations as habitual nuisances, require owners to meet minimum standards and allow the city to charge fees to recover the cost of repeat responses. If the council signs off, the rules could also give the city power to pull a property's certificate of occupancy after repeated violations and legal warnings, according to reporting on the proposed habitual nuisance rules, per Hoodline.
For now, NET Force is a tightly focused test run, meant to see whether proactive, coordinated enforcement can finally tame chronic hot spots without creating new problems for nearby residents. City staff and council members are expected to have more to share early next year as inspections ramp up and the pilot's results begin to take shape.
