Litter Becoming a Problem on Highway 6

The city of Oxford is renowned for its beauty, continually making list after list of the most beautiful places to visit and live. There is historic architecture, vibrant landscapes and flush gardens and groves. One thing that isn’t so beautiful lately is the side of Highway 6.

“Highway 6 is one of the main artery ways through this city,” said Oxford Police Department Deputy Chief James Owens. “It’s heavily traveled with individuals coming from all parts of the state trying to get to the other side. We’re beefing up patrols on 6 and are being very vigilant about litter, those caught will be cited for that offense.”

Mayor Pat Patterson said he is “sick of it” and believes it doesn’t give off a good initial showing of town.

“It gives a horrible impression,” he said. “Not only does it give a bad impression of Oxford but a bad impression of the University.”

Owens said the officers routinely write littering citations to motorists and pedestrians, and that it is something they regularly enforce. He also said it can be a very difficult crime to monitor.

“Littering is often one of those offenses where you’re moving in a vehicle so the officer either has to be routinely stationary or monitoring traffic up and down the road to observe it,” he said. “A lot of times our officers that make citations for it have been behind the drivers and seen it. It’s one of those situations that’s not easy to enforce.”

Due to the difficulty it takes to catch every person littering, Owens said citizens that observe the action and report it can be of great help to the department and their community.

“If that individual can call the OPD with a description of the vehicle and maybe the tag number, that’s one thing that would help us tremendously.”

Michael Quirk is a HottyToddy.com staff reporter and can be reached at michael.quirk@hottytoddy.com.