New York Undercover Sanitation Agents

 How ‘Undercover’ Sanitation Agents Will Sniff Out People Who Don’t Pick Up Dog Poop

November 10, 2017 | 9:45 AM

in ABSURDITY, NEWS

By Lisa Kava

Pooper-trators look out! An undercover Sanitation Department agent may be watching you.

In order to fine someone for not picking up after their dog, an enforcement agent has to catch them in the act, and that often means staking out a block that’s a suspected “dumping ground.” Any offender who is caught not removing dog waste will be issued a $250 summons for violation of the pooper-scooper law.

Failure to scoop poop is a frequently heard complaint on the Upper West Side — complaints to 311 about it spiked 180% during a six-month period that was tracked last year — and the issue came up at a “quality of life” meeting last month in Manhattan Valley. A Sanitation Department rep explained how they send out “undercover enforcement agents on the prowl for dog owners who do not clean-up after their dogs,” a meeting attendee said.

Here’s how it works, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Sanitation. Any resident may call 311 to file a complaint and report a dog owner failing to pick up waste. Once the Enforcement Division of the Sanitation Department receives a complaint from 311, a Sanitation Enforcement Agent is sent to the location of the complaint during the times specified in the complaint to investigate the situation.

In addition to looking for the person who was reported, the agents also investigate other dog owners who may be violating the K-09 law. “Most of the investigations are done for three days on different shifts,” the spokesperson said. “Sanitation will also send its enforcement agents to [the block] as a main concentration but the agents also patrol the immediate area. Sanitation has found that most 311 complaints for failure to remove canine waste occur before and after people go to work. Unless there is a specific time frame in the 311 complaint, enforcement agents generally spend up to two hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening patrolling.”

In fiscal 2016, the Sanitation Department wrote 21 summons in Manhattan for violation of the K-09 Pooper Scooper Law, according to the spokesperson. She did not provide information as to how many of these were issued on the Upper West Side or how many have been written in 2017.

In fact, she didn’t want to release many details at all. “I prefer not to comment on the Department of Sanitation’s undercover enforcement agents who patrol for dog owners breaking the law.”

So pick up after your dog! You never know who may be watching!