Protecting our Water- Preventing Illegal Dumping

Protecting our Water- Preventing Illegal Dumping

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Without water all living things will die, therefore it is imperative that we prevent illegal dumping from entering the water systems.

Illegal dumping is a worldwide problem, from small country towns to large metropolises. If left unchecked the trash piles enter the water sources, which contaminates the very water people and animals rely on.   According to the EPA, Trash can travel throughout the world’s rivers and oceans, accumulating on beaches and within gyres. This debris harms physical habitats, transports chemical pollutants, threatens aquatic life, and interferes with human uses of river, marine and coastal environments.

To prevent illegal dumping, municipalities need to implement a successful Illegal Dumping Program.  To make an Illegal Dumping Program meet the standards of prevention, the program must show that the activity is decreasing.

The question communities should be asking is, “What causes dumpers to decide not to leave their trash.”

The Illegal Dumping Program should have multiple departments working together to create the program, because it involves legislation, enforcement, education, clean-up effort, and the ability to purchase Illegal Dumping Prevention Systems, that are specifically designed to prevent the act and secure high-resolution images that can identify faces, tattoos, items dumped, and license plates in complete darkness.

  • Are you cleaning up the trash regularly to stop the magnet effect?
  • Are you able to capture images with details needed to prosecute?
  • Are you able to quickly move your systems to other locations?
  • Do your systems have features to deter crime before it happens?
  • Can your systems be placed where there is no electricity or internet connection?
  • Are your fines tough enough to make dumpers think twice?

Most dumping occurs in remote areas, making it necessary to have systems that can provide details needed without electricity or internet connection.  This is not just about cleaning up and hoping the trash doesn’t come back – this is about stopping the crime.

Prevent Illegal dumping in your community and protect the water sources.

 

Keeping Crime Out of the Parks

Keeping Crime Out of the Parks

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Keeping crime out of the parks has been a struggle for many communities.  Crimes in the parks consists of graffiti, vandalism, drugs, illegal dumping, and gang violence.  When crime in the park occurs, the attendees begin to draw away feeling the park is no longer safe.  When violence and unruliness take over, the crime spreads to the neighborhood and continues to grow.

An unsafe park creates an unsafe community for families and businesses.  Unfortunately, unsafe neighborhoods statistically cause lower property values, which causes even more harm to the community.  Everybody knows how beneficial a safe park, easy to access and enjoy, is to the community.

In order to keep crime out of the park, the community must come together and fight off the crime that plagues the park.  Back in the 80’s, “Take Back the Park” began.  A solution to take back the control of the recreational space by providing youth leadership and activities that include crime prevention training.  The impact of the program was encouraging.  15 parks participated where summer programs bloomed.

This is still important today.  Tragically,  Clairemont Community experienced a park shooting around noon while kids were playing.  The community then hosted a Take Back the Park Event to bring change to the neighborhood.   It needs to be noted that taking back a park is not easy and does not happen overnight. To see a change the program must continue, and the community must be involved.

Perpetrators visually need to see the community cares for the park.  Here is a checklist at a minimum that must be implemented to change the atmosphere of the park from neglected to loved.

  • Remove Graffiti
  • Repair Vandalized Equipment and Structures
  • Install Park Crime Deterrent Systems
  • Increase the Lighting
  • Provide Activities for the Whole Community
  • Increase the Presence of Site Managers and Police

Remove all signs of neglect like graffiti and vandalism immediately, as this attracts more serious crimes. Make sure the activities are enticing to the whole community, because the presence of people discourages most possible crimes. Make sure your parks department is equipped with the right tools to fight park crime.  Traditional cameras do not deter crime; therefore, Park Crime Deterrent Systems are needed.

Take back your park and keep the crime out!

Illegal Dumping Enforcement Program

Illegal Dumping Solutions for Municipalities

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Illegal dumping is out of hand and has become a major priority for municipalities looking for solutions.  Municipalities are under extreme scrutiny to clean up unlawfully dumped sites immediately and to prevent them from happening throughout the community. This daunting duty is never ending and very costly.  In order to stop this the harmful behavior, an Illegal Dumping Enforcement Program must be implemented with the sole duty to handle illegal dumping.

An Illegal Dumping Enforcement Program needs to have the cooperation of many departments and have the resources to be successful.  Because most unlawful dumping sites are remote, the problems municipalities face are unique.   In addition to the complaints from citizens, the cities need to be accountable to any disease that the community is susceptible to because of trash piles that harbor disease carrying rodents and insects that spread to humans.

If your city, is not able to collect evidence to convict in court, the perpetrators will continue the harmful activity of throwing their unwanted items into an unlawful heap they know of or create a new spot to dispose of their broken appliances, trashy furniture, or construction debris. There are many video surveillance systems out there to tempt procurement, but do they actually help?

Many cameras in use are easily destroyed or stolen. Others promise license plates but cannot capture images of evidence to convict.  Most systems require internet wiring or electricity, which is not practicable when the sites are remote and move around. Still others have batteries that need to be changed weekly or monthly.  Most importantly, the images captured do not meet the needs of a court case and are not permitted in use during prosecution.   In order to convict and generate revenue from collecting fees, the images and evidence must be beyond reproach, high resolution, and taper proof.

An Illegal Dumping Enforcement System must have the following:

  • Be Vandal resistant.
  • Not require electricity or internet connection.
  • Be easily deployed and moved to another site.
  • Have a long-lasting battery that does not need to be changed for years.
  • Capture Images of faces, tattoos, and the items dumped.
  • Capture license plates in complete darkness.

The solution to stop municipal illegal dumping is a successful Illegal Dumping Enforcement Program that is equipped with the right tools.

 

 

 

A fire at an Illegal Landfill

Illegal Dumping Resources for Municipalities

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Every municipality needs the appropriate resources to stop illegal dumping.

Unauthorized landfills are detrimental to the environment in many ways. Besides disease which is transferred to humans from rodents and insects that harbor within the debris and toxic pollution that enters the waterways, Illegal dumping can cause fires that decimate the environment.

In Southern Poland, a fire at an Illegal Landfill caused much damage to the environment.  During the fire pollutants were released into the air and soil. In the studies multiple toxins were discovered.

The trouble of illegal dumping is increasing every year.  The problem is there are not enough resources, or the resources used are ineffective to stop the issue.

The most effective Illegal Dumping Enforcement Programs are implemented using the right tools.  Some municipalities are using video surveillance, but the video footage does not produce the images the prosecutor needs to win a case.  There are many surveillance cameras being sold with the promise of license plates, but they cannot promise images of the person doing the actual dumping or evidence of what was dumped.  License plates readers and video surveillance have their place and can be helpful in many areas, but these resources are not enough for the illegal dumping application.

Here are some questions to consider when strengthening your Illegal Dumping Program:

  • Are your departments working together: Legislation, Code, Public Works, and Sanitation?
  • Is your municipality providing enough toxic waste programs for your community?
  • Are you educating the community on the environmental dangers?
  • Is it easy for the citizens to lawfully dispose of their trash and unwanted items?
  • Have you deployed Illegal Dumping Cameras, specifically designed with the illegal dumping application in mind?
  • Are the Illegal dumping fines strict enough to deter illegal dumping?

An effective Illegal Dumping Camera must be able to be placed in remote areas where there is no internet and no electricity, must be able to capture high resolution images of long range details that will stand up in court, must be able to capture license plates in complete darkness, and must be resistant to vandalism and theft. If your illegal dumping cameras do not have these capabilities, then you do not have the right tool.

Make sure your municipality has the resources needed to stop illegal dumping.