News Archive

All Rise for Litter Court!

01 October 2009

An American council has got so fed up of people littering the streets and not caring for their environment that it has set up a ‘litter court’ specifically to deal with litter crimes.

East Baton Rouge City in Louisiana set up the Parish Litter Court which is holding its first full day of trials today where 19 cases will be assessed.

The project began on August 1 when city-parish employees hit the streets with cameras and documented evidence of littering along with property owners not maintaining their local environment.

‘Litter Court’ targets litter and debris along with overgrown weeds and grass more than 12 inches high, illegal signs and neglected swimming pools without proper security.

If found guilty in ‘litter court’ offenders will face fines of $117 (£73).

What do you think about a ‘litter court’? Do you think this would work in England?

Comments

Comment on this article

• simon walker, North West

  How about environmental crime courts specifically for waste, litter, dog fouling, grafitti, flyposting, untidy land etc that can be dealt with locally at the magistrates. Use the wider picture to get the message across on all fronts

• Rachel, West Midlands

  I would be interested to know the overheads and staff costings that are involved, and if it was 'profitable' shall we say. f so, it could potentially be a good thing with the money being ploughed back into improved community facilities. If only we started concentrating on the 'petty crimes' (as well) as the Broken Windows theory suggests we might be on to something, street cleanliness is one of the number 1 fears residents have in their community that makes them feel unsafe and brings crime to the area. It also decreases new business prospects. Also a zero tolerance approach such as the one used in New York would impact on this type of crime. Instead of legalising or downgrading some types of crime because it cant be controlled is no excuse for the victims. Who are we protecting? but thats a story for another day. Parking enforcement has gone crazy and is making lots of money from inresponsible drivers, why not do the same for litter bugs?! I agree with on the spot fines for litter bugs, paper work needs to be made a lot easier though. I also think this should be applied for vehicle out of a litter whether your driving the car or not, it is the policyholders responsibilty.

• Denise, South East

  I don't know how this would work in England - although people complain about the amount of litter about, and general unsightly surroundings, I think people would just be resentful and go against it. They would say that it is just another 'money grabbing' scheme from the government/local councils/Uncle Phil( i.e. whoever they can blame). I think that the law regarding on the spot fines should be made clear and that we should see it in action - people will take notice.