Sonoma County is encountering an unusual problem - people are pooping in public.
The Press Democrat reported that people are “doing so in such great numbers” that the Sonoma County Department of Transportation and Public Works has considered posting new signs telling people not to defecate in the area starting next year.
Public Works Director Johannes Hoevertsz said the homeless population is not to blame in this case, but rather guests that drink a little too much and decide not to walk to Steelhead Beach to use the bathrooms.
Misti Wood, Sheriff’s Office Community Engagement Liaison told the Press Democrat she doesn’t understand people’s decision to defecate in public.
“I don’t know what would motivate somebody to publicly defecate across the street with a bathroom available,” she said. “What our deputies have seen is that when people become overly intoxicated the first thing to go is judgment.”
Defecating in public is a punishable infraction in California.
