Council hope to deploy armed police officers to crack down on litter bugs

Armed police officers would be deployed in Merrylands, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to deter litter bugs under a radical plan by Holroyd Council. In a move described as heavy-handed, the council wants police on the streets to catch residents in the act of littering, after efforts from council officers to clean up the area have so far proved ineffective. The council believes its officers are hamstrung in their attempts to penalise litter bugs because they can’t compel people to show identification, meaning tickets could be addressed anywhere.

Holroyd Mayor Greg Cummings has held preliminary talks with Merrylands police about the proposal, but the idea has met with fierce criticism from one of his fellow councillors. A council report reveals the project seeks to engage the NSW Police Service through the User Pays Policing Program to undertake patrols of the Merrylands CBD and issue fines to people observed littering. “This is an innovative approach to litter reduction and council is not aware of any other council in Sydney doing the same,” the report said.



Cr Ross Grove described the proposal as “local government gone mad” and would set a bad precedent for councils who want to pay the State Government for routine police patrols. “There is a very good reason this hasn’t been tried elsewhere and that is because the idea is just plain nuts,” he said. Cr Grove said he could not imagine police recruits graduating with a desire to catch murderers, rapists and litter bugs. The council has voted to discuss the user-pays policing at a workshop designed to give councillors more information on pricing.

Costs are expected to be met by a litter grant from the Environment Protection Agency. “I’m not really sure that we need to pay armed, uniformed police to chase down street litter,” Cr Grove said. “We may have a few Homer Simpson-style slobs in our society but for the most part I think people are responsible and there isn’t some evil supervillain out there dropping papers in a mischievous plot to destroy the city.” The council has tried other schemes to clamp down on litter in recent years, engaging performing street artists, extensive advertising campaigns and education programs.