Dive summary:
- Waste Management garbage truck drivers are pairing up with Florida police to provide a detection service for local crime.
- The Waste Watch program will train truck drivers to spot suspicious activity on their routes and report it to law enforcement; police say garbage truck drivers are perfect for the job because they are at people's homes every day and see their daily lives.
- Some trucks will be outfitted with dash cams that can record any suspicious activity in the moment.
From the article:
The Manatee County Sheriff's Office, City of Holmes Beach, Longboat Key and the Palmetto Police Department will all participate.
City leaders say they think the new program is a great way to target criminals in our communities. “They're kind of like postman, they're there every day, they know their routes, they know their residents and they actually probably know better than law enforcement, because they're going to their homes every day, so this is going to be a good thing to have these sets of eyes to see the patterns of the residents, and report if there's anything abnormal. It's a great thing,” says Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore. ...
