The Bakersfield Californian

December 6, 2005

Section: Local

Page: b1

Illegal dumpers may collect fines thanks to on-site cameras

JAMES BURGER, Californian staff writer e-mail: jburger@bakersfield.com

Illegal dumpers beware -- the cameras are watching you. The city of Bakersfield has bought six automated digital cameras and they are aiming them at the spots where dumpers dump most.

The cameras sense motion and can snap off up to four digital photos -- images sharp enough to capture a car's license plate number under the glare of a high-powered flash.

Signs in the area alert people to the camera's presence and the 18-pound camera box can be set to broadcast a loud message if the motion sensors are triggered.

"We're not trying to be sneaky about what we're doing here," said code enforcement officer David Paquette. "Our primary focus is illegal dumping."

Two cameras have been in action for one month and photos are flowing into the Bakersfield Code Enforcement Department.

Those cameras are at a Salvation Army store on Ming Avenue at Stine Road and at the corner of Brook and Madison streets near the Bakersfield Municipal Airport.

The other four cameras are in the process of being raised.

In most cases, the dumpers are sent a notice of violation and the signs show a $1,000 fine could be the penalty for dumping trash.

The cameras already seem to be stopping dumpers, Paquette said.

"You see some people drive up, get out of the car, look up at the camera and get back in their car and drive off," he said.

Kevin Barnes, the city's solid waste director, said illegal dumping is a serious and ongoing problem that costs the city more than $100,000 a year.

And it is, in his opinion, a pointless crime.

"A lot of that stuff can go to the landfill for free, seven days a week," he said.

He's met dumpers and said most don't understand that the landfill doesn't cost them a dime, or they simply missed the landfill hours and felt they couldn't wait a day.

Waiting might be a better idea now, Barnes said.

"If you can't make it on Saturday afternoon, well there's Sunday afternoon," he said. "You don't have to go out on Saturday night and dump it. Do something more fun with your Saturday night because it looks like you're going to get caught pretty soon."

The city paid for the cameras with money from a state grant through the Department of Housing and Community Development.

The cameras come from Q-Star Technology, LLC, whose president, Ken Anderson, said the company designed the cameras to be a tough, portable photo system for police and code enforcement officers.

The camera is often unpopular with lawbreakers, he said, but it gets the job done.

"It's pretty tough," he said. "We've had 15 (cameras) shot and we've been able to put them back into service."

Paquette said illegal dumping is being punished by notices at this point but the cameras can capture other crimes, like graffiti, and they will be forwarded to the appropriate authorities for prosecution.

Copyright, 2005, The Bakersfield Californian

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