Dallas Illegal Dumping Arrests are Highest Ever and Growing

The city of Dallas has made a record number of arrests in illegal dumping cases,  and now the city says it is on pace to make even more arrests this year, thanks to new technology.

The Dallas Marshal’s Office released new numbers this week of the number of people arrested in the years following the installation of high-tech surveillance cameras.

In the 2015-16 fiscal year, there were 246 arrests. That is the highest number of arrests ever made by the department. So far in the 2016-17 fiscal year, there have been 117 arrests, according to the department.

Chief Deputy Paul Hansen tells NBC 5, his department arrested 40 people last month.

He expects the 2016-17 fiscal year arrests to surpass the previous numbers.

Officers used to have to rely on physical surveillance of dump sites in order to catch offenders.

The department was then able to buy high quality digital video cameras and rapid deployment cameras using grant money.

The newer cameras allowed detectives to see each person taking part in an illegal dumping offense.

“It provides us with irrefutable evidence in court of these defendants who dump in the city of Dallas,” he said.

There are more than 5,000 illegal dumping cases reported in Dallas every year, according to the city.

The cost of cleaning up each site is up to $800.

While the arrest numbers appear to be promising, Hansen said more needs to be done.

“It’s still a major problem and the biggest thing is education,” he said. “We want people to know that it is a crime that you can go to jail for and it’s easy to avoid by using a landfill or the transfer stations that the city of Dallas has.”

When asked what else needs to be done to really clean things up, Hansen said:“Regardless if we use cameras or not is citizen involvement. If they see this illegal dumping going on, they need to report it.”

If you see illegal dumping as it’s happening, you are asked to call 911. If you would like to report illegal dumping after it’s already happened, you can call 311 or Crime Stoppers.