'This Is A Crime!' Police Warn Of $5,500 Fine For Littering Coronavirus Masks, Gloves
SWAMPSCOTT (CBS) -- Photos of used gloves and masks littering the ground are everywhere on social media these days. Now police in one town are warning the public that anyone caught carelessly disposing of coronavirus gear and other trash could face a huge fine.
Swampscott police shared a photo of rubber gloves and masks littering a Stop & Shop parking lot Thursday morning.
THIS IS A CRIME!! UNLAWFUL DISPOSAL OF TRASH and the first offense is finable up to $5,500. This was at Stop & Shop...
Posted by Swampscott Police Department on Thursday, April 9, 2020
"THIS IS A CRIME!!" police wrote on Facebook. "UNLAWFUL DISPOSAL OF TRASH and the first offense is finable up to $5,500."
The department said this is happening all over town and people need to be throwing these items in the trash.
"This is making a bad problem worse and possibly spreading COVID-19 to the people having to pick this trash up," police said.
Health officials say plastic gloves are safe to toss in the trash.