2009 MetLife Awards: Highland Park Illegal Dumping Task Force
Date Published: 12/03/2009
Author: Lauren Kopper
Operation Weed & Seed of Highland Park and the Highland Park Police Department
2008 MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Special Strategy Award for Aesthetics & Green Space Improvement.
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The City of Highland Park is a 2.96 square mile enclave located within the City of Detroit, Michigan. This once affluent community which was home to Chrysler and Ford, is now operating under state emergency financial management. Due to the City's financial problems, public services, including policing, have been necessarily curtailed in recent years. In addition, as the population of the City has shrunk, abandoned and often fire damaged homes became a significant blighting influence in many areas. This situation attracted illegal dumpers, who found it easier and less costly to dump their debris on vacant lots or often in abandoned houses than to dispose of it legally. The result of this illegal dumping was alleys and sometimes entire streets were blocked off with solid waste. Community outrage over the rampant dumping of tons of trash in the neighborhoods of Highland Park resulted in the formation of the Highland Park Illegal Dumping Task Force. The Task Force is a cross-disciplinary coalition which has not only worked to clean up dumpsites, but also to step up law enforcement efforts to arrest and prosecute illegal dumpers and develop innovative strategies to prevent future dumping. The Task Force has also engaged Focus: HOPE, a local non-profit developer and service organization, to help change the face of the neighborhood by building a new affordable senior housing complex and adjacent public park.
Topic: --Community Safety
Type: Case study / model practice