Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Hiram police propose municipal ordinance to address dumpster diving and unlawful dumpster use
Summary
The police chief presented two draft municipal ordinances to move enforcement of dumpster diving and unauthorized dumping from state court to city court and to provide municipal citation options rather than arrest and jail; council placed the items on consent for further action.
Police briefed the council on two draft ordinances intended to shift enforcement of dumpster-diving and unauthorized dumpster use from state-level processes to municipal court jurisdiction, and described impacts on public health, businesses and police operations.
The chief said Georgia law currently makes going into another—s dumpster a state-law offense and that enforcement now can require obtaining a warrant and taking an offender to a county jail. The department said that process is time-consuming for officers and costly for the city—s operations because arrests require booking and incur jail fees; the chief said police prefer municipal citations and municipal-court adjudication for most cases.
The first draft is aimed at "dumpster diving"—removal of property from commercial dumpsters—and the second draft addresses unlawful use or dumping into a dumpster by third parties (for example, contractors leaving renovation material by a business—s dumpster). The chief said incidents recently cost a local business more than $1,000 for cleanup and can create health hazards when outdated food is removed and consumed or resold.
Under the proposed municipal approach, officers could issue citations and summons for municipal-court disposition; the chief said repeat offenders would remain subject to judicial discretion and potential fines up to $1,000 or other penalties per municipal code. Council members discussed whether first offenses should be warnings; the chief said that would be judicial discretion under city-court procedures.
The ordinance drafts had been reformatted by the city attorney and were placed on the consent agenda for consideration; the transcript shows staff recommended the items for consent, but the record in the work session did not include a standalone, roll-call vote on the ordinances.
