Illegal dumping bylaw officer, more cameras needed to make surveillance program effective, report says

The city should hire a full-time bylaw officer to run its illegal dumping surveillance program, expanding on a two-year pilot project that installed cameras to monitor hot spots around Winnipeg, according to new report expected to be presented to a city committee next week.

That report is a follow-up to one presented to the city's innovation committee in April on the effectiveness of the pilot project.

Launched in 2016 at a cost of $54,000, the pilot program met with mixed results, according to the April report from bylaw enforcement manager Winston Yee.

As of March 8, the cameras had led to 103 investigations of possible illegal dumping, half of which could not be substantiated. Another 15 were under investigation and 34 resulted in some form of enforcement, including $16,800 worth of fines.

While incidents of illegal dumping in some areas decreased or stopped altogether, new hot spots would flare up, according to the April report.

After the report was filed, city council asked the public service to provide recommendations on the long-term sustainability of the program.

In a report scheduled to be presented the protection committee meeting next Tuesday, Yee recommends spending $150,000 to hire the bylaw officer, purchase new equipment and run the program.

Illegal dumping investigations need the evidence gathered by the cameras in order to successfully enforce the bylaws, Yee wrote in the report.

The fines for illegal-dumping convictions, as set by courts, have ranged from $100 to $2,000.

In addition to the bylaw officer, Yee said the city needs new cameras in order to have greater "operational agility and flexibility" when dumping hot spots move from one location to another.

"If recommendations are not accepted, the Public Service will continue to operate existing cameras with existing staff, but with limited effectiveness as time passes," Yee said.