Hartford officials are tired of people who are “trashing” their city and are cracking down on illegal dumping.
Technology has been installed around the city with the objective of catching and arresting people who are leaving trash in unauthorized places.
In various places, there’s garbage strewn around public areas and furniture left on the side of the road.
Illegal dumping has cast an unsightly blight on some parts of Hartford and the mayor says much has come from contractors.
“They are doing that because they think they can avoid the costs of disposing of that material and they think they can put that cost on the people of Hartford,” Mayor Luke Bronin said.
Hartford police say the crime has been challenging, and identifying violators has been at the core of the issue. Aiming to solve that, surveillance technology has been installed in various locations.
“We do have cameras out here that are very high resolution,” Hartford Police Sergeant Chris Mastroianni said. “We are capturing license plates.”
Since installing the cameras, police say they’ve already made four arrests. Three of them are people dumping construction materials.
“As a result of what they did, their companies are going to be facing some serious financial hits,” Bronin said. “If I were their employer, I would fire them today.”
As an investigation continues, police declined to name the contractors, but explained they will face serious penalties. That could include fines and even the possibility of having their vehicles seized.
Some residents appreciate the stepped-up approach. Debra St. Germain has lived on Clermont Street since 1986. The street, which dead ends with land butting up against the South Park River, has been affected by illegal dumping.
“We have things in the water such as cars, tires, etc.,” St. Germain said.
St. Germain is frustrated with the illegal dumping and is happy the city is sending a clear message to the violators.
“There are many of our neighborhoods that are not on main streets and are just like yours, and we like to keep them that way,” St. Germain said.
The illegal dumping is costing the city tens of thousands of dollars each year to clean up, and Bronin is tired of it.
“If you treat Hartford like trash and illegally dump your trash here, you should expect to be caught on camera and you should expect to face consequences,” he said.
The illegal dumping is impacting residents around the city and officials are asking anyone who sees it happening to report it by calling 311.
Read More: Hartford police step up efforts to curtail illegal dumping – NBC Connecticut