CRIMINAL DUMPING INVESTIGATIONS:

The Miami-Dade Police Department is committed to protecting the environment of Miami-Dade County.  It has dedicated three units to detect, investigate and apprehend those responsible for polluting the lands, waters and atmosphere of the County.  Initially established as the Illegal Dumping Unit (IDU) under the realm of the Department of Solid Waste, Investigators with specialized knowledge of the waste disposal industry were empowered through County Ordinance 15 of the Miami-Dade County Code to patrol, detect, and investigate violations of the ordinance and to identify those responsible.  Fines ranging from $250 to $1,000 were issued to violators and felony warrants were obtained as a direct result of those investigations.  Many of these investigations were often complex and lengthy and required the issuance of search warrants and subpoenas to assist in the conduct of the investigation.  A unity with the Miami-Dade Police Department was established to assist in those enforcement efforts.

In 2001, the IDU was transferred to the Miami-Dade Police Department.  Established under the Miami-Dade Police Departments are the North Criminal Investigations Unit, the South Criminal Investigations Unit, and the Special Projects Unit.  These units proactively and diligently patrol areas of the county prone to acts of illegal dumping.  Protecting the environment is simply protecting the living space that surrounds us.  It’s true that as a society we have profound, universal issues to deal with when it comes to natural resource conservation and protecting endangered species.  The Miami-Dade Police Department stresses that the battle to protect our environment must involve a personal commitment from each of us.  This narrows the battlefield to an individual level.  We have an unquestionable responsibility to ensure that our waters and atmosphere remain clean, our playgrounds are free of dangerous toxins, and our neighborhoods are clean of waste and debris.  We’re familiar with the immediate and future impact of air and water pollution, however, there are those who ask, “What is the harm in tossing a little trash onto the roadside or a vacant lot?”  Simply put, illegally dumped trash and garbage attract vermin and parasites.  Trash piles detailed with broken glass, sharp metal edges, and leaking fluids create perilous attractions to our curious and less cautious children and pets.  Abandoned refrigerators are inherent death traps, and countless waste tires are breeding grounds for pesky, disease-carrying mosquitoes.  Property owners and local government are unfairly left with the cleanup costs.  Finally, an unkempt, “trashy” neighborhood signals to criminals and other miscreants that they have an area for doing their shady business without interference from unconcerned neighborhood residents and government officials.

To combat the various, unpredictable acts of illegal dumping, the units utilize many surveillance techniques to include the use of unmarked vehicles, foot patrol, traceback information, and other proven methods to deter environmental crimes.  Through its ability to remain flexible, the units have adapted to the ever-changing strategies being used by environmental offenders to circumvent and thwart detection facilities, efforts, and enforcement personnel.  The Criminal Dumping Investigation Units and the Special Projects Unit work closely with other MDPD patrol, investigative, and community service units, outside law enforcement agencies, and local county agencies such as the Department of Solid Waste Management, Team Metro, and the Department of Environmental Resources Management.  Most importantly, members of these units work closely with the residents, and property and business owners.  Illegal dumping is littering and all littering is investigated and enforced either through issuance of citations or effecting criminal arrests.  Florida State Statutes define what acts of littering constitute a criminal violation and Chapter 15 of the Miami-Dade County Code defines what constitutes ordinance violations.  The Dade State Attorney’s Office, Environmental Crimes Unit, plays an active and committed role through consistent prosecutions, provision of training and guidance to investigators, as well as educating the legal community about this upcoming new arena of criminal justice.

SPECIAL PROJECTS UNIT:

In addition to its investigative functions, the Special Projects Unit supervises and monitors the Community Service Program.  This program, consisting of offenders arrested for illegal dumping and other related environmental crimes, are deployed into various communities to clean and restore blighted areas that have been used as illegal disposal areas.  This program has been successful in restoring many neighborhoods affected by the negative impact of illegal dumping.  Offenders are often required by the courts, as a condition of their sentence, to perform Community Service hours, usually ranging from 100 to 300 hundred hours.  The program is supervised by the unit which coordinates and directs the clean up of communities throughout Miami-Dade.  The program incurs no taxpayer or community expense and utilizes the labor of court mandated environmental offenders to complete assigned remediation and restoration tasks.  By deployment of the Community Service Program, areas that were traditionally used as illegal disposal sites have been restored to their natural beauty.

The Community Service Program serves as a two fold model:  It educates the offender of the negative impact that illegal dumping has on affected neighborhoods and through its clean up efforts, its educates the affected community upon the devastation created by unlawful acts of illegal dumping and simultaneously fosters a heightened sense of community awareness. 

The CSP has worked so well that it has expanded to include all persons arrested by MDPD that are eligible for pre-trial intervention.

If you wish to report criminal or illegal dumping, e-mail IBID@mdpd.com or fax 305-468-2578