Pictured is some of the garbage and debris hauled away after the cleanup.

Pictured is some of the garbage and debris hauled away after the cleanup.

On Saturday, March 15, Cpl. Travis Yates of the Charles County Sheriff’s Office Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Unit coordinated the cleanup of a large amount of trash and debris dumped in a common area on Gerard Court in Bryans Road. “For some reason, this particular area has been a popular place for people to throw out bulk trash. Part of my responsibilities as a COPS officer is to look for these problems and act on it,” said Cpl. Yates. “I coordinated a plan with Lt. Rob Studds and Cpl. Tony Oliver of the Charles County Detention Center and the sheriff’s office Volunteers in Community Service (VICS) program and they assigned and transported six community service workers to the area. After four hours, we gathered up 26 shopping carts, 20 tires, 4 carpets, 3 mattresses and 50 bags of trash to be picked up,” Cpl. Yates said.

Sheriff Rex Coffey said the CCSO is committed to enforcing littering laws, and the agency has a long tradition of addressing illegal trash dumping problems. “The COPS Unit and Charles County Teen Court have participated in many clean-up events and our VICS program at the detention center has assigned offenders to litter pickup for years,” said Sheriff Coffey.

Discarding garbage that weighs more than 100 pounds can be subject to hefty fines, starting at $12,500 or higher, and a year in jail or more, depending on the size and weight of the item. Anyone who sees this type of littering in progress is asked to call the sheriff’s office at (301) 932-2222. People with other concerns about littering should contact the Charles County Government at (301) 932-3599.

Media Contact
Diane Richardson
301-609-6557
richardsond@ccso.us