EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Las Cruces City Council will be adding a new ordinance after discussing the prevention of theft of shopping carts on Monday, Aug. 6 during a special work session.
According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, Las Cruces Police Department Chief Jeremy Story presented the proposal during a work session in April, saying that the goal is to help businesses while also addressing mental illness or drug addictions with services in place.
Story also said that those who are homeless would not be arrested for possessing a shopping cart and their property would not be discarded, according to the Sun News.
According to the ordinance, the City of Las Cruces determined that the “unauthorized removal of shopping carts, or parts of thereof, on public and private property from retail establishments constitutes a nuisance, creates potential hazards to the health, welfare, and safety of the public, and interferes with pedestrian and vehicular traffic.”
Violations for individuals who remove a shopping cart from a business could result in a petty misdemeanor, between $100 and $500 in fines depending on several violations within the same year, according to the ordinance.
Read: Read More