City of Blytheville cracking down on illegal dumping

The city of Blytheville’s cleanup efforts have remained intact despite the coronavirus outbreak slowing their progress.

The plan to beautify the city focuses on abandoned homes as well as commercial buildings.

Code Enforcement’s Janice Smith said the plan to remove abandoned and damaged stricken buildings around the city was brought about by Mayor James Sanders.

“He reached out to me about the plans he had,” Smith said. “We contacted the state to clear the process about how to do things and get them done correctly.”

Code Enforcement has torn down 56 buildings in total this year, moving closer toward their goals but have adjusted those aspirations due to COVID-19.

“We had a goal in mind but after the outbreak of COVID, I just kind of threw it out,” Smith said.

Despite removing the specific goals of this plan, Code Enforcement director and Assistant Police Chief Ricky Jefferson still believes it is effective. Jefferson said in addition to improving the city’s appearance, this plan also aims to decrease unlawful acts.

“It slows down the crime rate and it also promotes more safety for the citizens as well as the officers,” Jefferson said. “It minimizes the places for people to commit illegal activities (like) drugs and storing stolen property.”

Jefferson also prioritized the importance of maintaining these areas after being cleaned by Code Enforcement. Illegal dumping in areas on Beale Street and South 11th Street have become a prime concern.

“We are trying to clean the areas and other people are coming along and messing it back up,” Jefferson said. “We are going to contact crime stoppers and see if we can offer rewards for anybody that continues doing this. We also have more SkyCop cameras that we are going to put in place and for anybody coming in and out we’ll just cite them or arrest them if needed.”

Jefferson also spoke on the benefits of implementing SkyCop cameras and the assistance they have already proven to provide.

“These SkyCops, they are our electronic witnesses,” Jefferson said. “By having them, we are able to catch video and prosecute those committing crimes. They have been very instrumental in us solving homicides as well as other crimes. A lot of time victims can't talk or won’t talk, but with the camera, it can almost be solved right away.”