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Of all the things Danny does well, he really excels in getting media support for his department’s activities. He has taken the time to develop outstanding relations with local media, including KLTV Channel 7 in Tyler, the Tyler Morning Telegraph, and smaller papers such as the Tri County Leader. The regular local stories about illegal dumping and burning enforcement have significantly increased public awareness and helped publicize legal disposal alternatives.

"The press seems to really enjoy these stories and have told me that they get the best feedback on the trash dumping stories. Channel 7 – KLTV – does a series on ‘Trashing East Texas’ once a week and we’re often on that. You just develop good relationships with the reporters that are there, get them really interested in what you’re doing, show them what kind of health risks there are for the public, and they get the same passion to clean up our place that the environmental officers have. Through these stories the citizens get educated on two things: that their tax money is going to a good cause and that illegal dumping is a crime. It also educates your local prosecutors, your commissioners and your council people on what you are actually out there doing, because most of these folks will never be at an illegal dump site. The education process is never ending."

All of this is paying off in increased leads coming into his department, as well might be expected. However, the largest dump site found so far in Smith County was the result of Danny satisfying his curiosity back in mid-February: "I saw a dirt road and decided to see where it went, because dirt roads often have something dumped on them. Well, the further we went down the road the more dumped stuff we saw, and it turned out to be a twelve acre dump site. This is the largest site we’ve found in Smith County so far." In answer to the question, "Do you think that’s the last big one?" Danny chuckled and said, "I don’t think so. But we’ll find them." 

When he was up with the helicopter pilot surveying the twelve acre site, the pilot invited Danny to come ride with him someday and he’d really show him some places. Danny went on to make some interesting points on this. Although aerial dumping surveillance as such is not usually funded through local grants, officers that have managed to get a "view from above" are generally rewarded for their efforts. Officers not having access to helicopters and small aircraft may want to cultivate friendships with medical evacuation pilots working through local hospitals. Because they cover virtually everywhere in the county, such fliers are in a great position to know where the larger dump sites are located. However, unless enforcement officers raise the issue with the pilots, they will not generally think about dump sites. Danny wanted to thank East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System for their courtesies in this regard.

Another prosecution for commercial dumping came from a ride-along with Department of Public Safety pilots who were working on another case. "What got my attention was the cow standing in the middle of a big pile of trash, just chewing away, eating the garbage. This guy was running a dump right across the street for the actual legal landfill, but you couldn’t see it from the street. He was taking batteries, oil filters and things like that you couldn’t take to the landfill for $10 a load. We showed the video tape to the jury and that was about it." Altitude increases effectiveness.

For additional information on these grants, contact Julie Burnfield at ETCOG at (903) 984-8641.You can contact Sergeant Danny Brasher at (903) 882-4086. He's one of the good guys and we are proud to name him Big Dog for April 2006.

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