Photo by Mr. T in DC.

D.C. police are stepping up enforcement of the city’s anti-littering laws.

Metropolitan Police Department officers are handing out $75 tickets in the Fourth and Sixth districts to any pedestrian seen littering, while warnings will be issued this month in the First, Second, Third, Fifth, and Seventh districts. City-wide ticketing begins on September 1.

If an officer sees a person dropping waste material of any kind on public space, in waterways, or on someone else’s private property, the person may receive a $75 NOV for littering. Anyone issued the NOV is required to provide their accurate name and address to the officer. Those who refuse or fail to provide their accurate name and address can be arrested and, upon conviction, be fined an additional $100 to $250 by the D.C. Superior Court. Failure to respond to a littering ticket by either paying the fine or appealing the ticket to the Office of Administrative Hearings will result in a doubling of the fine.

Via MPD.

Ticketing in the Fourth District began in May 2011, and the program expanded to the Sixth District the following year. In 2012, MPD issued five tickets in the Fourth District and 65 in the Sixth. Only six tickets were paid, while 23 were dismissed (“mostly due to a particular field on the ticket being left blank,” according to an MPD assessment) and 41 defaulted. From the 2012 assessment:

Although 47 tickets is a low sample rate, a 13 percent compliance rate is not encouraging. When the proposed legislation was discussed in Council, MPD warned that there was likely to be a low compliance rate with civil violations for which an individual has no property interest or privilege to protect—such as real property, a professional license, or a driver’s license. In order for littering enforcement to be effective, the government must be able to hold violators accountable for their actions. Without repercussions for an offense, the government’s ability to hold violators accountable for this civil offense is limited, and the tickets may not be enough of an incentive to motivate people to change their behavior.