Scavengers
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I read with great interest letters (Oct. 29) opposing the crackdown on scavengers who take recyclable items from the yellow bins provided by the city. Over the last several months council offices and the LAPD received hundreds of phone calls and letters from residents complaining about this problem. My office worked to create a scavenger task force.
Members of the community were asked to take down the license plate numbers and descriptions of scavengers’ vehicles and report them to the LAPD or the scavenger hot line at 1-800-773-CITY. The information was then compiled by the LAPD,which dispatched officers assigned to the task force to areas with a high volume of scavenging activity. It is estimated that scavengers cost the city over $2 million in lost revenue each year. The money is necessary to offset the costs generated by the state mandates that required that recycling be implemented.
The LAPD crackdown on scavengers will not take police away from regular patrol. It comes from the Department of Sanitation’s recycling budget and cannot be used for any other purpose.
LAURA CHICK
Los Angeles City Council
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