3GS has been working alongside Bristol City Council, tackling environmental crimes in the city through the Clean Streets Enforcement campaign, to create measurably cleaner streets.
Officers have been patrolling the city every day to cut down on environmental crime and increase environmental awareness. when caught, perpetrators are given a fixed penalty notice on the spot. The cases of those who refuse to pay are transferred to the courts for prosecution, where they are usually required to pay a larger fine.
3GS officers working on behalf of the council have been patrolling the streets of Bristol since February 2019, and so far, have issued 16,000 fixed penalty notices, with over 3,000 cases that have either been taken to or are in the process of being taken to court.
The work our officers do in preventing environmental crime is vital for our city. The crime has an extremely negative impact on our streets and costs Bristol’s council taxpayers millions of pounds to clear up every year.
3GS officers regularly prosecute the perpetrators of avoidable environmental crimes across Bristol:
- Dropping litter on the street or from your vehicle, including chewing gum and cigarette butts. Our officers have issued over 14,000 penalty notices to individuals dropping cigarettes.
- Graffiti: this includes painting or damaging a tree or any road signs
- Flyposting: officers have issued fines for over 500 examples of flyposting.
- Fly tipping: a reckless and lazy act, that damages Bristol’s wildlife.
- Public urination and spitting: our officers have dealt with 242 cases of spitting and 38 cases of public urination.
- Nuisance parking: like vehicles for sale.
- There are cases of individuals not putting their domestic or commercial waste out properly.
- Breaches of a Community Protection Notice.
- Breach of Public Space Protection Orders, such as not clearing up your dogs’ mess; not keeping your dog under control; taking a dog into an excluded area, such as an enclosed children’s play area; drinking in a no-drinking area.
While the progress towards curbing environmental crime has evidently been positive, our hard work continues.
Recently, to help provide a more attractive street scene, 3GS officers have taken on the role of assisting their council colleagues in the investigation and enforcement of the handling of waste by Bristol’s commercial businesses, under section 47 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
In addition to this, the council offers educational programmes designed to change attitudes towards environmental crime, such as litter picks and billboard campaigns that teach the benefits of a cleaner, safer environment.
As the council takes a closer look at how we can all improve our relationship with waste during national recycling week, we celebrate a partnership that has helped transform the environmental landscape of Bristol. Supporting in the crackdown on offenders who have been responsible for the environmental deterioration of the city.