Cleaning up Kalamazoo: Volunteers, government agencies team up to rid streets of trash (with video)

KALAMAZOO, MI In an effort to make neighborhoods in Kalamazoo a more attractive place to live and bring pride of ownership to homeowners, volunteers and police officers spent two days picking up more than 100 bags of litter and other trash.

Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Community Police Officer Fidel Mireles said people in the neighborhoods are appreciative of the cleanup efforts, and some have come out to thank the volunteers. The cleanup also has a positive effect on people that don't live in the area, he said.

"It's the whole broken window theory," he said. "If people from out of town come and see a bunch of trash on the ground, they'll think it isn't a clean and safe neighborhood."

This marks the fourth year the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, the Kalamazoo Public Services Department and the Community Planning and Development Department have worked together to focus on quality of life issues to help improve specific neighborhoods as part of the Community Policing philosophy.

Volunteers from the Kalamazoo Probation Enhancement Program and members of the KPS C.O.P.S. Division hit the streets for two days.

Mireles said volunteers picked up around 70 trash bags full of garbage in the Edison Neighborhood on Monday and filled around 50 trash bags on Tuesday near Westnedge Avenue and North Street. They also picked tires and other items from vacant lots.

Brock Beilby, 22, of Allegan, said from picking up glass to make the sidewalks safe for kids, to hearing people yell thank you from their windows, the cleanup was a positive experience for him.

"It makes me feel good that I'm helping to clean up the neighborhood," he said. "Next time I finish a bag of chips or something, I'm going to think about this before I litter."

Rhea Burnett, 27, has lived in Kalamazoo her whole life and said she was happy to help both days.

"Somebody needs to do it," she said. "We did something good for somebody by cleaning up the neighborhood."

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Cleaning up Kalamazoo: Volunteers, government agencies team up to rid streets of trash (with video)