Photo by JosephLeonardo.

You don’t often have to go very far in this town to see litter — and we don’t mean just an overflowing trash can. The District’s streets have somewhat of a reputation for serving as a dumping ground for chicken bones, shattered bottles, and all sorts of other disgusting refuse, which can pile up for weeks. The Metropolitan Police Department is now going to do something about it, though: starting May 1, MPD will kick off a pilot littering enforcement program, in which those caught dumping trash on the streets and sidewalks of the department’s Fourth District will be ticketed and fined $75.

Once the program, which will only be enforced in the Fourth District during the pilot, begins, police officers will issue warnings to litterers for the entire month of May. Then, starting June 1, cops will start write tickets to those break the littering law — even arresting those who fail to provide information at the time of the citation. (Cops on the beat will be watching for those who “intentionally or carelessly dropping waste material of any source on public space, in waterways, or on private property not controlled by the individual.”) There’s already a law in place for those who litter from a vehicle (that’s a $100 ticket), but police will be keeping an eye out for that, as well.

Police officers will eventually be issuing citations citywide, once the police verify the “effectiveness of the process” and the accuracy of new citation violation forms designed for the pilot. The citywide rollout is not expected to take place until mid-to-late fall, if all goes according to plan.