Dear Red Phone,
“Someone dumped 10 five-gallon containers of paint in the bushes by Ninja Sushi. When I called the Gilroy Police Department (non-emergency phone number, not 911) to report it so that the appropriate city department could address the issue (i.e. police, fire, city works, hazmat) the dispatcher told me that it was my responsibility to contact the property owner to have them pick it up. This is beyond ridiculous. When I informed the dispatcher that it was not my responsibility, that I was not going to attempt to find the property owner and that is is illegal and a hazard to dump paint, she begrudgingly took my name and number. Granted this is not an immediate life-threatening issue, but I am dumbfounded and disappointed with our city’s response.”
Red Phone: Dear reader,
Here is a response to your question for Gilroy Police Department Sgt. Pedro Espinoza. We hope you find this helpful.
Espinoza: “Our dispatchers did in fact call code compliance for directions and (were) informed that we don’t typically take illegally dumped items from private property. Certainly if this had been an active hazmat situation it would have been addressed by police and fire personnel.”
