Saipan has a new batch of anti-littering police

Assistant attorney general Frannie Demapan and police officer Dan Smith, seated, help conduct the Litter Control Apprehending Officers Training at the Pacific Islands Club last March 8. (DEQ DIRECTOR RAY MASGA)

A total of 51 government employees from various agencies took part in the 2019 Litter Control Apprehending Officer training of the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality at the Pacific Islands Club Saipan last March 8.

That means litterbugs on Saipan need to shape up; There is a fresh batch of newly certified anti-littering watchdogs in the community.

The training for Tinian and Rota apprehending officers will be scheduled with the respective municipalities.

The government employees who attended the March 8 training were from the BECQ, Commonwealth Healthcare Corp.’s Bureau of Environmental Health, Department of Public Lands, Mayor’s Office of Saipan, Department of Public Works, and Department of Lands and Natural Resources’ Division of Parks and Recreation.

The Zoning Office and Department of Public Safety did not attend.

The training and certification of these apprehending officers from these eight agencies is provided under Public Law 19-53, which amended the CNMI Litter Control Act of 1989 (P.L. 6-39) in 2016. These new anti-littering officers will enforce the provisions of the anti-littering law.

The training covered topics such as filling out/issuing citations, collecting evidence and chain-of-custody, report writing, and court processing. The training also provided hands-on case study discussions to facilitate further understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the apprehending officers and enforcement of the litter regulations.

The 2016 amendment of the CNMI Litter Control Act changed the fine for litter violation from the minimum $200 to a range of no less than $25 to no more than $5,000. Due to the large penalty range, BECQ developed a fee matrix, which was included into the regulations, to provide the apprehending officers with a guideline for applying consistent penalty fine for the litter violation. The participants were also trained on how to apply the fee matrix when assessing a violation.

BECQ would like to express its appreciation to the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Public Safety for supporting and assisting in conducting the training.

CNMI residents and businesses are being urged to be aware that these newly trained and certified litter officers are out there and they are ready to enforce against any litter violators. (PR)