Waste Management Waste Watch Program in Florida

Waste management drivers are also serving as an extra set of eyes and ears for local law enforcement. They’re able to report any suspicious activity they may witness during their routes, thanks to a program started in 2010.

During their scheduled route on Marco Island, Emelio Medal and his coworker witnessed a woman and her dog being attacked by a pit bull.

“The lady tried to protect the little dog, and the dog started attacking the lady,” said Medal. “And it was a bloody, bloody incident. So immediately, me and my other driver, we took action.”

Both jumped in to help pull the dog off of the woman and the other dog.

“We find some piece of rope somewhere, a piece of wrap, and we tie the dog,” he explained.

Once they had control of the pitbull, the drivers alerted their waste management dispatcher, who then called 911.

“Thank God nothing more happened. But we saved the lady, and we worked with the community.”

The Waste Watch program trains drivers to be the eyes and ears of the communities they serve so they’re ready for whatever comes their way.

“I see some people having accidents. They can get out of the car. We jump immediately, helping the people try and take it out of the car in case it’s a fire explosion, and we have many, many incidents that one, waste management and the program get involved and, thank God we’re there,” Medal said.

Medal told WINK News he’s happy to have been there when he was and is thankful for the training the waste watch program provides.