Law Enforcement
Enforcing environmental laws requires police and legal skills, along with technical expertise in numerous areas and some highly specialized resources. This website highlights the work of DEC's police units (Environmental Conservation Officers and Forest Rangers), and shows two of the department's specialized resources: K-9 dogs, and powerful microscopes used to identify tiny particles in the air so they can be tracked to their source.
To be effective, state enforcement personnel and policies must work in concert with their local and federal counterparts, and citizens must be kept informed and involved. On this site is information about how New York accomplishes this formal coordination, and about educational programs with a strong focus on enforcement.
More about Law Enforcement:
- Law Enforcement FAQs - NYSDEC Law Enforcement-Frequently Asked Questions
- Environmental Conservation Police Officers - About New York State's Environmental Conservation Police Officers
- Officer on Patrol articles - Articles from Officers on Patrol
- EAGLES School Program - The Environmental Awareness Gives Life to the Eco-System (EAGLES) Program
- Law Enforcement K-9 Units - DEC's Division of Law Enforcement has a specialized K-9 Unit trained to handle situations ranging from locating poachers to finding people who have become lost in the wilderness.
- Region 4 Enforcement Actions - Region 4 Enforcement Actions
- Civil Enforcement Actions - Prosecution of applicable Federal and State environmental laws and associated regulations.
- Enforcement Related Links - Links to helpful external web pages germane to enforcement
- Guide to Enforcement Hearings - This guide was written to help you understand the enforcement hearing procedure used by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). It explains the hearing process from when the charges are made to the Decision by the Commissioner. While this guide is helpful to understanding the hearing process, it does not substitute for the legal rules governing the hearing.
- Air Law Enforcement - Compliance and enforcement summary documents from Division of Air Resources
