http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ga-garbage-man-jail-time-starting-work-early-article-1.2141248

Quote :

"Kevin McGill will spend the next 14 weekends in jail for starting his trash run at 5 a.m."

Quote :

"McGill, who didn’t have an attorney with him when he was sentenced, is serving his time on the weekend. His new attorney wonders why he’s being punished."

Meanwhile we can't get a indictment on a cop for killing someone no matter what. Kill a kid, kill a thug, kill a homeless man, kill a man throwing rocks...NO INDICTMENTS. But this man is in jail for picking up trash before 7 in a rich Atlanta suburb.

3/8/2015 7:50:47 AM

The waste management company should be investigated for forcing him to pick up garbage for a living in the first place.

[Edited on March 8, 2015 at 9:29 AM. Reason : o]

3/8/2015 9:27:25 AM

Quote :

"Chief prosecutor Bill Riley said predawn trash pickups were a recurring problem and prompted widespread calls to 911"

"HELP, POLICE! THERE IS A STRANGE LOOKING TRUCK STOPPING IN FRONT OF EACH HOUSE."

that's ri-goddamn-diculous. I could understand the ordinance if it was a noise issue, because garbage trucks can be loud sometimes, but that stated reason is straight up dumb.

3/8/2015 10:02:18 AM

stupid laws, in my NYC?

3/8/2015 10:43:57 AM

^ no my friend, this happened in Atlanta, so we can thank the South for this particular story.

This seems a little bit extreme. I would favor a Code Enforcement board hearing or an Administrative Fee imposed (for all working hours spent prior to 7 AM) if this guy is a routine violator of the city ordinance.

But considering that this is only a municipal ordinance dealing with the hour of the day, to make this a criminal offense with jail time? No way.

3/8/2015 11:04:52 AM

garbage trucks are loud as fuck...I'd be pissed if the freaking garbageman rolled up outside my front door at 5 a.m.

I don't know that I'd call 911, but I suspect this shit has as much to do with waking people up as anything

3/8/2015 11:12:33 AM

ah, tl; dr. just glanced at nydailynews.com

3/8/2015 11:19:08 AM

he's not the first garbage man to face jail time for this offense. The prosecutor stated that fines don't work and that jail time is the only way to get the point across.

I'd be pissed if someone was driving a trash collection truck around in my neighborhood at 5AM. I'd be even more pissed if multiple complaints to the trash collection company resulting in no changes. The multiple calls to 911 was probably an organized effort on the part of the HOA.

Our construction crews like to start work as early as possible, but we have to delay work until 7AM in most places due to noise restrictions.

3/8/2015 11:54:16 AM

What about prosecuting the people calling 911 over a noise ordinance violation?

[Edited on March 8, 2015 at 12:17 PM. Reason : .]

3/8/2015 12:17:30 PM

You're supposed to use 911 for noise complaints - how else is an officer going to get dispatched for it?

3/8/2015 12:35:08 PM

how about calling the non-emergency police number. since a garbage truck picking up garbage too early IS NOT AN EMERGENCY.

IF an HOA organized people flooding 911 with calls, the HOA board should get to sit in jail for the same weekends.

3/8/2015 12:48:49 PM

Quote :

"Black man jailed for repeatedly violating noise ordinance"

Although why they didn't just fire him, I don't know.

^When they create a non-emergency number that's as easy to remember as 911, then people will call it. People are too lazy to take the time when they are woken up at 5am to google "non-emergency police number Atlanta" and filter through results.

[Edited on March 8, 2015 at 12:53 PM. Reason : ]

3/8/2015 12:52:35 PM

well i mean if an HOA organized these calls like eleusis suggested, it wouldn't take much work to also give people the precinct to call.

abusing the 911 system is a pretty shitty way to get what you want done.

also yes, the guy should have just been fired.

3/8/2015 12:58:20 PM

Apparently if you call the non-emergency line for a noise complaint, in many jurisdictions, they will tell you to hang up and call 911, as that is the only way to get someone dispatched.

3/8/2015 1:08:53 PM

'Murrca Fuck Yeah

3/8/2015 3:02:38 PM

a lot of areas don't have non-emergency numbers. The Baltimore area only has 311 and 911 with no local precinct numbers available to the public. The 311 isn't supposed to be used for things that require a unit to be dispatched; it's intended for reporting city problems like potholes.

3/8/2015 3:27:40 PM

This man has a criminal conviction on his record for his first offense of waking rich people. This is bullshit.

3/8/2015 3:41:26 PM

I read in one article that Atlanta does not have a non-emergency number. Also, this company had been fined multiple times, and this was a recurrent problem.

3/8/2015 3:52:46 PM

...Company has been fined, sending the worker to jail will do NOTHING to stop the company from telling other workers to go early or get replaced. This is stupid no matter how you spin it.

American justice revenue system at its best.

[Edited on March 8, 2015 at 3:56 PM. Reason : ,]

3/8/2015 3:55:39 PM

If it's a company wide problem, first step is fine the company, or take away the contract to do the work. If it's a personnel problem, warning, then fire him.

The Judge has handed down the same jail time before for violation of noise ordinances, and is known for awarding "automatic jail time" for this infraction.

But I guess Atlanta doesn't have bigger criminal problems to solve than noise ordinances...

[Edited on March 8, 2015 at 4:00 PM. Reason : ]

3/8/2015 4:00:19 PM

Someone stole a NASCAR in Atlanta last week.

3/8/2015 4:04:29 PM

the employee made the decision to go to work early, not the company. The guy admitted he was there early. Once the citation got issued, it was no longer the company's decision to make as to whether he got jail time or a fine. at least this way he still has a job, and he'll know not to go driving an obnoxiously loud vehicle through a residential area at 5AM anymore.

[Edited on March 8, 2015 at 4:20 PM. Reason : A city isn't going to pull a trash contract on something this minor]

3/8/2015 4:17:54 PM

If it's repeated violations from the same company, and that company is not responding to fines, I think that's more than a minor problem.

That being said, I don't think the guy would be showing up at 5am if his company had said "do it again and you're fired."

I also think the company should have helped him get an attorney, or the guy should have applied for a public defender. No reason to ever go into court unrepresented.

3/8/2015 4:22:35 PM

I'm just grateful that I'm able to sleep well at night knowing that this criminal is off of the streets

3/8/2015 4:51:12 PM

My god you people are fucking stupid. You are actually ok with a man going to jail for picking up trash at 5am.

3/8/2015 5:19:10 PM

I can understand the contempt people feel for this dude running an early trash run, but not the jail time.

Since we're the first neighborhood on our collectors run on Friday's I can sympathize with people hearing that damn truck barreling down the street an hour early and having to bolt out the door in underwear and crocs to get your cans to the street because someone wanted to get a jump on the day.

A better punishment would have been to force this guy to have an alarm go off at random times during his sleep so he can understand the bitterness people feel towards him.

3/8/2015 5:33:17 PM

Where the fuck was his union to protect him.

When the order came down to start runs at 5 AM he should have been able to say "no" and have the full support of his labor union backing his position to avoid jail-time/fee.

Fucking atlanta

3/8/2015 6:42:37 PM

I don't think there was an order for him to start early. He probably just liked getting a jump on the traffic. It is way easier/faster to pick up trash when the streets are empty. I sympathize with him, and I'd have been tempted to start early, too.

Fuck a light sleeper.

3/8/2015 6:55:19 PM

I like to drown out the noise of the garbage trucks at 5am by mowing my lawn.

3/8/2015 6:59:51 PM

I like to drown out the noise of my neighbors mowing their lawns by running a 5-7hr systems tests on all functional lawn equipment, particularly my leaf blowers.

Sometimes I disengage the blowing function on the leaf-blowers and just let the whirring of the engine echo in the neighborhood to make sure that the engine is operational.

Then I actually get to work and start doing my landscaping and clearing leaves (for another 5-7 hrs).

3/8/2015 7:14:28 PM

I just bring home strangers for loud, violent sex romps.

Then I blast reggaeton until the last of the crystal meth wears off, and I can drink myself to sleep.

3/8/2015 7:19:10 PM

I drown out the noise of lawn equipment by repeatedly testing my car alarm.

[Edited on March 8, 2015 at 7:22 PM. Reason : ^sup. we're strangers.]

3/8/2015 7:21:40 PM

Our soldiers fought and die for our freedom to not have our trash picked up while we're trying to sleep.

Everything about this story is very 'murica.

3/8/2015 7:30:59 PM

Quote :

"No reason to ever go into court unrepresented."

Recurring problem with cops involved - citations get issued. Letting the citation run its course without lawyering up was stupid. Apparently he realized his mistake after the fact, because he has an attorney now.

To the comment about the company should have pitched in for an attorney - no company should do that unless what the guy was doing was at the direction of the company.

3/8/2015 8:21:22 PM

Yeah, I'm sympathetic to wanting to stop 5am garbage truck runs, but incarcerating this dude isn't the way to do it.

Levy fines until it isn't advantageous to go that early. The company will reevaluate their policy, and fire the driver if he keeps violating it and getting them fined.

Also, isn't garbage collection contracted in most cities/towns, so that if they don't like it, they can just contract another company once it's up for renegotiation?

3/8/2015 9:00:21 PM

Sandy Springs Georgia is the conservative utopia that has been featured on CNN. Its a wealthy community that did not want its tax money subsidizing services for all the poor people in Atlanta. They incorporated as a town, and privatized pretty much every government service possible.....including the courts.

http://www.vice.com/read/this-man-got-sentenced-to-30-days-in-jail-for-picking-up-trash-too-early-306

3/8/2015 10:19:30 PM

Only in America do we throw in jail the people that come and haul away our shit (almost literally) because we don't want them doing it too early.

3/8/2015 10:33:52 PM

that's a pretty socialist viewpoint to take on annexation. Most areas fight annexation because they get charged taxes for substandard services compared to the city center. There have been a few lawsuits between municipals in NC with Duke/Progress over who has the right to provide electrical service to residents, with the municipals asserting that they have the right to force the customer to change out their service and pay for the higher cost of electricity from a municipal provider. There have also been numerous disputes with annexed portions of Raleigh and Cary over forced connections to water and sewer when the existing property had functional well and septic.

3/8/2015 10:49:04 PM

so you still think the guy deserved jail time?

3/8/2015 10:54:05 PM

They said jail time was the only way to get him to stop. But I woulda done four weekends, not 15.

[Edited on March 8, 2015 at 11:01 PM. Reason : Drunk drivers typically get four, if anything, so 15 seems insane.]

3/8/2015 10:57:39 PM

I think he deserved to get issued a citation. the 30 days was excessive, but he should have gotten a lawyer up front since this involved more than just a simple fine.

[Edited on March 8, 2015 at 11:02 PM. Reason : the 30 days in jail wasn't to punish him, it was to send a message to everyone else]

3/8/2015 11:00:12 PM

Quote :

"They said jail time was the only way to get him to stop. But I woulda done four weekends, not 15."

Firing him or his company would have been a sure fire way for him to stop, he is not picking up the garbage for fun, he is doing it because they (Sandy Springs, GA) pay him or his employer to.

They could also buy some trucks and hire their own employees like almost every other local government does, since they apparently cant manage their contractors.

3/9/2015 7:37:41 PM

I wouldn't fire that dude ever.

He's for real about his job, and I dig that.

But I'd do what's necessary to let him know that 5 AM ain't okay: lose your job or do 4 weekends in jail (after ample warning).

Then, in 7 or 8 months, you could do same thing all over again...cause you know this dude is running early again regardless. And I feel him...like, seriously, just looking in that dude's eyes, it's evident that he still doesn't give a shit about these light-sleeping assholes...he's got a fucking job to do. I'm OCD, and I'd wanna pick up trash at 3 AM--this dude demonstrated restraint.


I reckon they could limit him from the truck if they were for real about stopping him. But, yeah, I'm with the menacing garbage man running his early routes...

3/9/2015 7:49:38 PM

So instead of being shot he was just arrested? Sounds like good progress for black men

3/9/2015 8:16:09 PM

Quote :

"Chief prosecutor Bill Riley said predawn trash pickups were a recurring problem and prompted widespread calls to 911. He recommended sentencing McGill to 30 days in jail."

pussification of america

3/9/2015 8:35:27 PM

Fact: More people slip & fall at work due to premature garbage pick-ups in Atlanta than for any other reason.

The judge was absolutely right in sentencing this man for what he got. Lock him up and throw away the key!!!!!onetwo

3/9/2015 11:48:34 PM

This is about as Murica as it gets.

Its now a criminal offense to wake rich people. I will scratch my head about this one for a long time.

3/9/2015 11:55:04 PM

I wonder how many white workers they have thrown in jail for doing their civic related jobs?

Quote :

""We look for the minimum punishment what will deter the crime,"Riley said when asked whether the Department of Justice's report on Ferguson would make him second-guess his own office's treatment of cases like McGill's. "We tried forever not to put anyone in jail for these cases, but it wasn't working.""

3/10/2015 12:10:07 AM

ZERO

3/10/2015 3:52:12 AM

So y'all are telling me there are no rich, black people in GA who'd pull some nonsense like this?

Cause I'm pretty sure rich, black people are just as generally awful as rich, white people. It's what makes America awesome.

3/10/2015 4:40:36 AM