Philly district attorney’s office launches clean and green unit to tackle ‘short dumping’ and other quality of life crimes

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A new prosecution initiative will target people who dump trash on Philadelphia streets and other unauthorized locations.

District Attorney Larry Krasner was joined by City Councilmember Anthony Phillips and other city and state officials and law enforcement partners to announce the launch of the effort focused on so-called short dumping and other quality-of-life crimes.

Assistant District Attorney Teresa Benavides-Sexton will head up the Cleaner & Greener Enforcement Unit. She said she’s among many other Philadelphians who are tired of short dumping.

“It’s a huge problem in the city and in the neighborhoods. It’s really demoralizing to feel like you live in a trash can all day, every day. That’s some people’s experience day in and day out,” said Benavides-Sexton, who is also a block captain.

The unit will have multiple attorneys as well as some high-tech investigative resources.

“Whether it’s license plate readers that can take pictures of your license plate as you come and go from a location, whether it’s cell phone data or cell phone tower analysis, those are all things that we can bring in and supply to our colleagues in this new initiative,” said Assistant District Attorney Bill Fritzie.

“It’s our hope that by using that intelligence, we’re not only able to help with the investigation, but also with the prosecution and the bail in some of these cases.”

Last month, thousands of tires were found illegally dumped in Tacony Creek Park. The city’s director of the Office of Clean and Green Carlton Williams told 6abc the city collects about 250,000 tires that are dumped in the city every year.

Philadelphia spends about $48 million a year on cleanup efforts. Councilmember Anthony Phillips said spending that amount of money is unsustainable, adding that this enforcement effort could force the dumpers to pay for the cleanup.

Krasner threatened to impound vehicles and levy heavy fines to enforce the ban on short dumping in the city.

“Get prepared to get locked up, get prepared to be charged, get prepared for your vehicle to be taken from you, get prepared for some legal bills,” he said. “All the people who live around here should not have to put up with you trying to take a shortcut with the safety, security, and appearance of their neighborhood.”

The unit will be funded as part of Mayor Cherelle Parker’s budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Krasner is using some of his own budget to get the unit’s work started before then.

Krasner is up for re-election this year, facing former Philadelphia Judge Pat Dugan in the Democratic primary. There is no Republican candidate.