Livingston County Sheriff Thomas J. Dougherty advises the implementation of a two-prong approach to keeping Livingston County a beautiful landscape. This Sheriff’s Office initiative uses both the inmate work crew to clean up the litter and strict enforcement to keep it clean.
Recently the Sheriff’s Office inmate work crew has been deployed to clean up litter from the side of roadways at the request of citizens. The work crew has logged several hours of dedicated efforts cleaning up trash that has been unnecessarily littered by motorists. The work crew consists of inmates from the Livingston County Jail under the guard of Deputy Sheriffs assigned to the Jail Division.
Deputy Sheriffs in the Road Patrol Division have initiated a zero tolerance policy through Operation Litter Bug. The Deputies will be aggressively enforcing section 1220 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law. The law reads as follows:
VTL Section 1220.
Throwing refuse on highways and adjacent lands prohibited
No person shall throw, dump, deposit or place, or cause to be thrown, dumped, deposited or placed upon any highway, or within the limits of the right of way of such highway, or upon private lands adjacent thereto, any refuse, trash, garbage, rubbish, litter or any nauseous or offensive matter.
The fines are up to $350 for a first time offense and/or community service for a not for profit.
Typical littered items that Deputies will be strictly enforcing are fast food wrappers, cigarette butts, bottles and cans, newspapers and garbage bags but any item considered trash that is littered on the highway will be enforced.
“Anyone that lives or travels through our beautiful county knows how picturesque the landscape is,” stated Sheriff Dougherty. “Unfortunately certain motorists litter their trash on our roadways and leave it to others to clean up their mess. This new initiative will clean up the trash and keep it clean by proactive enforcement. Take it as good warning that if you are caught littering, you will be receiving a ticket from a Deputy Sheriff.”
