Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow wants the public to be on the lookout for…signs in their neighborhoods that are part of an anti-litter campaign.
The signs will feature brightly colored handprints – about the size of a child’s hand – and will include a QR code that is linked directly to Crime Stoppers, so the public can report instances of littering by pointing their cell phone at the code.
Barrow told WIZS Monday on TownTalk that the campaign is as much about education and prevention as it is about catching litterbugs.
With a modest $6,000 budget from a federal asset forfeiture funds allocation, Barrow said he plans to target elementary school-aged children across the city to impress upon them the importance of keeping litter off the streets.
“It’s going to be an inclusive campaign,” Barrow said, adding that there will be ways to tie in with businesses, pastors and churches and individuals. “We’re just going to try to throw the kitchen sink at this thing,” he said.
City Manager Terrell Blackmon helped get quarterly cleanups started when he came on board, which complements the state’s annual Litter Sweep campaign, which this year is April 26.
Barrow said he still recalls those catchy phrases he learned when he was in elementary school, and they’ve stuck with him – “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires,” and “Give a Hoot – Don’t Pollute,” to name a few.
This campaign’s catch phrases aimed at schoolchildren can have a similar lasting effect on today’s young people – “Don’t Trash Our Future” and “Children Deserve a Clean Community” bring home the message to put trash in its place.
There’s even talk of having stickers that fast-food restaurants will put on their bags that will contain the anti-litter messaging, Barrow said, “to put it in as many faces as we can to prevent (littering) instead of taking punitive measures.”
More information about the upcoming campaign should be available in the next couple of weeks.