Litter Enforcement Hotline

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2010

The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury enacted a parish-wide Litter Hotline in conjunction with a new anti-litter program in February 2009. This project enables parish citizens to report litterers through a simple and memorable phone number. Citizens that call provide a description of the littering act, the location of the crime and, if possible, the offender’s license plate number. Once the information of the offence is collected, Parish Police use the reported license plate number to obtain the litterer’s home address in addition to entering all information into a database. Letters are then sent to offenders, alerting them that they were reported for littering and warning them of possibly harsher punishments if they are reported again. Moreover, the Parish Police Jury uses this program in tandem with other methods to discourage littering. Once a week, 10 license plate numbers of reported litterers are chosen and placed on digital billboards around the Parish with the message: “Is this your license plate? You were reported for littering.” In addition, along with the notice of being reported, offenders are sent a free litter bag with the number of the Litter Hotline on the front. This element of positive reinforcement offers the offenders the opportunity to change their habits and prevent further littering in the future. This low-cost program has experienced a great level of success, having over 2,000 calls since its start. On average, the hotline receives 40 calls a week. The funding required for the Litter Hotline is minimal, as the total costs consist of only monthly telephone charges.