social media<\/a> as he documents his cleanups.<\/p>\n\u201cSince I start [work] at 9, I\u2019ll do like a 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. so I can shower and then prep my stuff,\u201d Cabrera said during a recent interview with Spectrum News as he used a dustpan and rake to clean up a street in his neighborhood.<\/p>\n
He said illegal dumping near his home has grown worse since the pandemic, and Cabrera thinks it\u2019s a mixture of people dumping illegally, homeless people in the area, and workers on their lunch break tossing trash out their car windows.<\/p>\n
He said he\u2019ll typically fill about 20 trash bags during each cleanup and then submit a report on the city\u2019s request for services app for a pickup. He said sanitation crews usually respond within a week.<\/p>\n
According to city data, there were 114,268 requests for illegal dumping pickup in 2024. The following year, requests jumped to 383,551. And so far this year, there have been 234,900 illegal dumping reports, which are on pace to surpass last year\u2019s number. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite the increase in complaints about illegal dumping, a public records request shows the number of citations issued in LA for illegal dumping has fallen from 102 in 2024 to 81 in 2025 and just 29 so far this year.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for LA Sanitation and Environment, one of the city agencies responsible for responding to illegal dumping concerns, declined repeated requests for comment on this story.<\/p>\n
On their website, the agency says it works hard to respond to illegal dumping concerns within 48 hours.<\/p>\n
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, a community advocacy group, and he agrees that illegal dumping has gotten worse. He lives in South LA\u2019s Council District 8, which has the most illegal dumping complaints of any district so far this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city can come out after I make a call, and they will clean it up, but remember it\u2019s not going to stay clean,\u201d Hutchinson said. \u201cYou know, I\u2019ve gone back a week or two later and people tell me, Earl, it\u2019s back again. Because there\u2019s no penalty that is being enforced for the dumping.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hutchinson has also taken to social media to address the problem. He livestreams from problem dumping areas and sends the videos to Mayor Karen Bass and the head of LA Sanitation, demanding they clean up the area within 24 hours.<\/p>\n
He said this tactic has worked at about 20 different sites.<\/p>\n
People who dump illegally can be fined up to $10,000, and repeat offenders can be sentenced to up to six months in jail.<\/p>\n
Some LA communities are getting extra help with this problem. Council District 10 in the Koreatown area has agreed to a one-year contract with the Koreatown Youth and Community Center to launch a rapid response team for illegal dumping.<\/p>\n
That new team is set to start next month.<\/p>\n
But for Cabrera, he said he\u2019ll work constantly to keep his neighborhood clean.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is infuriating when you know someone else is dumping on us, and now we get the bad name and we are getting disrespected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s also what motivates him to keep chipping away at this growing problem.<\/p>\n