City of Sacramento to install new camera system to crack down on illegal dumping
SACRAMENTO – Sacramento City Council approved an upgraded camera system as it looks to crack down on illegal dumping.
The city hopes new cameras will mean more people getting caught in the act.
It is a welcomed change for people in north Sacramento neighborhoods who have been burdened by blight build-up from illegal dumping for years.
"It's been car seats, strollers, cushions, couches," said Alexyss Garcia who lives in South Natomas.
In January, a home's security camera captured a sea of trash being sprawled across Edmonton Drive. It is a lot cleaner now than it was then, but Garcia said the illegal dumping has gotten worse in her over 10 years in the neighborhood.
"It is kind of sad when you go on walks you expect to see beautiful nature you don't want to be like moving over trash, stepping on trash," Garcia said.
In 2024, there were 11,000 illegal dumping cases reported to Sacramento's 311, but code enforcement only investigated 1,458 of these cases. The city said the new cameras have better technology.
"We can catch license plates and get clear pictures of individuals so we can prosecute," said Sacramento councilwoman for District 1 Lisa Kaplan. "Your safety matters. Our community's safety matters."
In 2018, the city installed 13 cameras across hot spot illegal dumping areas like neighborhoods in Del Paso and Robla, but the cameras started to have issues capturing clear pictures and connecting to servers.
"They think because this is a lower socio-economic area that they can get away with it," Kaplan said.
She hopes the city's $300,000 investment in the new cameras will send a clear message to illegal dumpers to think twice before trashing Sacramento streets.
"We don't want no more trash," Garcia said. "We want people to throw their trash in the trash."
Kaplan said the new cameras will be installed within the next 30 to 60 days, but it couldn't tell us where those cameras are going or how many.
If you are caught illegally dumping garbage, you will be cited.
