Some good news and some bad news about the Herring Run dumpers.

It seems that the Herring Run dumping incident was such a non-starter that the Baltimore Police Department didn’t even file an incident report about it. Code Enforcement, however, has offered to provide training to police officers on how to better handle dumping incidents in the future.

“After working with [Northeast District ] Major [Richard] Worley to try and find an incident report from the BPD on this issue, I can tell you that no report was written for this incident,” wrote police spokesman Detective Ruganzu Howard to The Brew. We requested an incident report on November 23.

The incident concerns a dumper who got his truck stuck in a ravine while dumping in Herring Run Park in Northeast Baltimore on November 20.

Officer: Nothing he Could do

Neighbors called the police right away, but the officer who responded didn’t know how to deal with the dumping and left – without writing a citation.

According to witnesses, the officer told them there was nothing he could do. The dumper and his truck were stuck in the park for about seven hours.

Worley said later in an email to the local community association that his officers didn’t have much experience dealing with dumping situations.

He acknowledged the officer was incorrect – and could have written a citation and should have asked for guidance and promised this wouldn’t happen again.

Code Enforcement arrived after the police officer left and seized the dumper’s vehicle.

Robert Walshe, a member of the Waltherson Improvement Association board, said he’s following up with the police to find out why no report was made and why the incident is not part of the Police Department’s record.

“I think the impression [had been] that a report was filed when Housing’s Investigation Unit arrived,” he said.

Dumping Enforcement 101

Patty Dowd, a Herring Run-area resident who called the police, took photos of the dumpers and stayed with them in the park for hours, says she’s not surprised there’s no report. Dowd said she is glad that Code Enforcement is handling the case.

As for State Del. Cory McCray (45th District), who called the agency when he saw a post about the dumpers on Herring Run Parks’ Facebook page, he says he has kept in contact with the agency since the incident.

“Code Enforcement has filed for civil forfeiture of the vehicle and they are filing charges against the owner,” McCray said last night.

“Code Enforcement is also having discussions with the Northeast District regarding providing training for officers on how to deal with dumpers appropriately,” McCray said. “So if officers run into a situation like this in the future, they will know how to proceed. I thought that was pretty good, that that conversation has taken place.”

(Housing department spokeswomen Cheron Porter said today that Code Enforcement plans to work in all police districts regarding dumping enforcement issues.)

Saying that dumping is a serious problem across his district, McCray has been meeting with the Code Enforcement staff since July to figure out ways to reduce it and prosecute dumpers.