Letter to the editor: Punishment for littering will help with problem

Posted

In the Feb. 19, 2021, newspaper article about littering, Mr. McCormick made a very inaccurate statement. He said, "It's safe to say that everyone hates litter." If that statement were true, then there would be no litter.

When I first moved back to Sumter, I saw a person ahead of me throw a bag of trash out of their car. I had the license plate number and called to report it. I was told that there could be no charge because it may not have been the car's owner tossing the trash. If you have the license plate number, day and time, then you should be able to bring a charge against the owner of the car. If it was not the owner doing the tossing, then it is the owner's responsibility to collect from the person they lent their car to.

The only way to get some people to stop trashing our city and county, and to teach them that they should not litter, is to give community service picking up litter for a minimum of 8 hours. Or give such a hefty fine that the person will think twice before trashing our county again. Also, to allow individuals to make a report when a litterer is seen, and to act upon the information with the before mentioned litter pick-up and/or fine.

My sister has called Sumter "SCUMTER," and looking at roadside trash all over the county, I am afraid that she is correct in that assessment.

F. D. SCHMIDT

Sumter