LOS ANGELES : Crackdown on Stealing From Recycling Bins OKd
Los Angeles has put some teeth in an ordinance that made it illegal to steal bottles, cans and other items from the city’s curbside recycling bins.
The City Council voted Wednesday to spend $64,000 to step up enforcement of the city’s anti-scavenging ordinance, earmarking $15,000 for a police crackdown in the West San Fernando Valley and setting aside $49,000 for a possible expansion of the police patrols citywide.
The program will begin on a pilot basis from the West Valley Division of the Los Angeles Police Department. If the project is successful, it will be expanded to other parts of Los Angeles.
West Valley residents have voiced more complaints about trash scavengers than inhabitants of any other section of the city, said Eric Rose, aide to Councilwoman Laura Chick.
According to Chick’s office, which proposed the new enforcement push, the stealing of recyclables has dramatically increased in the last few months, and is costing the city $25,000 a month.
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