Polk wants collectors to pick up garbage and clues

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd doesn't put up with trash talk. Unless, of course, he's doing the talking and it's about his agency's new partnership with Florida Refuse Services.

Operation Waste Watch, launched Wednesday, asks trash collectors to act as unofficial crime-watchers in Polk neighborhoods.

"Can you think of anyone better to help us prevent crime and solve crime than those that are in our neighborhoods every day?" Judd said at a news conference Wednesday morning.

As part of Operation Waste Watch, Polk County Sheriff's Office crime prevention specialists trained 185 Florida Refuse truck operators in the art of effective observing. "We want them to observe behavior, report suspicious incidents," Judd said.

Law enforcement officials want to hear about a range of suspicious activities. Judd gave some examples.

"Guess where meth dealers throw their residuals away from their meth labs? In the garbage," Judd said. "Guess where the remnants of a marijuana grow house end up? In the garbage. Guess where homicide victims sometimes end up? Same place."

Dave Kutschinski, a spokesman for Florida Refuse, said the company has up to 170 trucks on the road every day. Those vehicles and their crews cover nearly every corner of the county. He said trash collectors see questionable activities every day but now will look at those situations from a different vantage point.

"Yeah, we do see some of those things, and we don't think anything about it. And so with the sheriff's office bringing that to our attention, I think that does heighten the awareness," Kutschinski said.

Judd's deputies already have a similar partnership with Bright House Networks truck operators, and Lakeland Electric Co. meter-readers watch for and report suspicious activities. Those tips have led to many arrests, sheriff's officials said.

One of the most recent successes, authorities said, involved an underground marijuana grow house at 6632 Dove Meadow Trail. "Lakeland Electric discovered the theft of electricity and ultimately a grow house because of their partnership with us, and that happens all the time," Judd said.

That doesn't mean Florida Refuse trucks will sport flashing blue lights, but officials say bad guys should be aware even the garbage man has an eye on them.