If you drive through the City, you'll notice various locations where "No Littering" signs exist: at freeway off ramps, on major thoroughfares, and in other random places. At one time, these signs were quite prolific, but as time went on, they were removed for one reason or another and not replaced. There are still a few out there.
But, the law they warn of, no littering, comes with a $1000 fine. Yep, if you drop a gum wrapper and a cop sees you, that's a ticket for a grand. Fear not, though, the signs are old and outdated. In fact, in 2o03 Councilman Tom LaBonge requested that the fine be lowered "to a more reasonable sum, like $50," His motion was submitted and talked about for over a year, but it never was adopted or implemented. He referenced the fact, at that time, that no citation for littering had been issued in 2002 - I'd argue to say that none has been issued since then. Some might criticize LaBonge for making such an issue out of littering. His efforts are noble though: his goal was to help deter the trash dropping that ended up in the LA River. (He also called on other enforcement officers - Parking Enforcement Officers, Building Inspectors, Street Use Inspectors - to also have the authority to issue the lowered-fine citations which would increase the effectiveness of this law.)
Perhaps it's time to go back to the LaBonge compromise: lower the fine and start enforcing it.
(We don't have the correct photo of the sign, but if we can snap one, we'll post it.)
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3 comments:
I say keep the fine and enforce it. A few dozen $1000 fines and people will stop dropping their trash. Use the proceeds to get public trash service in areas with heavy pedestrian traffic.
I totally agree. $1,000 is punitive and a deterrent, as long as they enforce the law. Will lowering the fine to $50 mean that more cops will ticket? Is it harder to write a $1,000 ticket than a $50 one?
I think the fine should be dropped to $50. At $1000, you get the same problems you get with DUIs - people will actually fight them, using up resources and time. And because littering isn't as life-threatening as DUIs, cops and courts don't want to deal with all of the problems commensurate with enforcing such a huge fine. At $50 (and with heavy enforcement), many more people will learn from experience that being lazy will cost them, and fighting a $50 ticket just isn't worth it.
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