Jeffrey Morrow

My daily life as a downtown business person would be made more pleasant if I didn’t have to constantly deal with Dumpster divers and their trashy behaviors, their needles, their nasty feces, their rude, f-bomb laden insolence. I could use some help on this issue.

It is permissible for Dumpster diving to be illegal in Redding. Federal and state laws allow municipalities to make that decision. Other California municipalities have made Dumpster diving illegal. Cities the world over have cultivated a reputation for cleanliness by focusing attention on trashy behaviors. Redding could move in this direction simply by making Dumpster diving a crime.

A Google search on prohibiting Dumpster diving provides the necessary language for an ordinance "prohibiting anyone, except authorized employees of a city (Redding ) to rummage into, pick up, collect, move or otherwise interfere with articles or materials placed in a Dumpster or on . . . any public street for collection."

More:Redding's no-trespassing law to take effect in July

The rules of evidence for issuing a trash citation could be as simple as the ordinance. A picture of a diver diving could be sufficient for issuing a citation. Police need not witness the crime to issue a citation. The witness need not confront the diver. The witness could photograph the act, call the police, and then patiently wait for an officer to arrive.

Imagine this scenario. Let’s say I come across a diver in my Dumpster enclosure. I know this problem diver to be a drug addict based on the orange caps and needles he leaves. I want this diver to leave my area, to leave my town. I quietly take his picture, move away, and call the police. Of course, the police don’t come right away. This is a very low priority issue. So I wait or quietly follow the diver should he leave, calling dispatch to let them know where I am and where the diver is.

After about 45 minutes, the police come. With the picture as evidence, the officer confronts the diver with the evidence, and issues a citation. What follows is a court date, which is likely missed, and ultimately a failure to appear arrest warrant. Next time the diver comes in contact with the law, an officer can arrest the diver. Searching for weapons, chances are good that something illegal could be discovered. Now we’re getting somewhere. If that druggie diver could sit in jail a few days, his addiction would come into play. Without drugs, a short stay in jail would be quite unpleasant.

Bottom line, Redding would become far less desirable for individuals with druggie, trashy behaviors.

Redding could do something about trashy behaviors. Will we? Is Redding a town of whiners or is Redding a town that takes steps toward a cleaner, more tourist friendly future? A social scientist would offer the hypothesis that Redding will not take moves to combat trashy behavior, and welcome proof otherwise.

Jeffrey Morrow lives in Redding.