Garbage collectors are rolling out new skills in neighborhoods.
Drivers with Waste Management are partnering with the Broward County Sheriff's Office to report any suspicious activity in neighborhoods.
"When our drivers see something suspicious, they're trained to pull over, get out of the way, dial 911 safely, report what they've seen and wait until law enforcement officials have arrived," said Dawn McCormick, the company's community affairs manager. "They're not police officers," she noted, but the idea is to "not let anything suspicious go unreported."
The idea is to provide law enforcement "with an extra set of eyes on the street," Sheriff Al Lamberti said in a statement.
Twenty-five drivers are being trained in Broward. Drivers in Miami-Dade received the training last November, McCormick said.
She emphasizes the program works. Last month a Miami-Dade driver smelled smoke from a warehouse and alerted firefighters.
A man who had been sleeping inside escaped safely, McCormick said.
