DEC Environmental Conservation Police Officer Highlights |
ECO Actions for Late JanuaryNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Environmental Conservation Police Officers (ECOs) enforce the 71 Chapters of NY Environmental Conservation Law (ECL), protecting fish and wildlife and preserving environmental quality across New York. In 2018, the 288 ECOs across the state responded to 21,668 calls and worked on cases that resulted in 20,665 tickets or arrests for crimes ranging from deer poaching to solid waste dumping, illegal mining, the black market pet trade, and excessive emissions violations. If you witness an environmental crime or believe a violation of environmental law occurred, please call the DEC Division of Law Enforcement hotline at 1-844-DEC-ECOS (1-844-332-3267). “From Montauk Point to Mount Marcy, from Brooklyn to Buffalo, the ECOs patrolling our state are the first line of defense in protecting New York’s environment and our natural resources, ensuring that they exist for future generations of New Yorkers,” said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos. “They work long and arduous hours, both deep in our remote wildernesses and in the tight confines of our urban landscapes. Although they don’t receive much public fanfare, the work of our ECOs is critical to achieving DEC’s mission to protect and enhance our environment.”
Recent missions carried out by ECOs include:
Lone Wolf – Kings County
Clams on the Street – New York County On Jan. 18, ECOs Daniel Plows and Brendan Dickson received a call from Manhattan-sector ECO Joshua Harvey regarding a repeat violator selling shellfish illegally in Chinatown. ECO Dickson quickly found the seller, who was pushing two, five-gallon buckets full of clams up a street. Dickson, dressed in plainclothes, waited for the woman to set up her sales operation. ECO Plows waited in uniform a few blocks away. When the subject began peddling the clams, ECO Dickson signaled for ECO Plows to approach. The seller is known to run when confronted, so ECOs Dickson and Plows approached from opposite sides. When the seller spotted ECO Plows, she turned and ran straight into ECO Dickson. A total of 22 pounds of illegal freshwater shellfish were seized. The woman was issued three tickets, including illegal sale of untagged shellfish, possession of shellfish from uncertified waters, and failure to have a shellfish shipping permit. The tickets are returnable to New York County Court.
Tin Brook Breach – Orange County
Illegal Fire Leads to Ticket – Westchester County
ECOs Rescue Stranded Ice Fishermen – Jefferson County On Jan. 30, ECOs Lt. Steven Bartoszewski and Bret Canary were positioned at New York State Police’s Watertown barracks as part of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Winter Storm Jayden detail. Heavy bands of lake effect snow across central Jefferson County kept first responders busy with cars off the road and motor vehicle accidents. At 5:45 p.m., Jefferson County 911 called for assistance for two stranded fishermen in a truck on Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario, off Three Mile Point. The ECOs responded on snowmobiles in 45 mph winds and whipping snow that limited visibility to under 100 feet. Members of the Chaumont Volunteer Fire Department made phone contact with the two men, obtained a GPS location and relayed it to ECOs on scene. The officers set out across the frozen bay guided only by the GPS pin location and located the vehicle 2.5 miles from the boat launch. The two men were in good condition and relieved to see the ECOs. When the storm descended on the lake, they had attempted to drive off but the truck’s 4-wheel drivetrain wouldn’t engage and they became stuck in a snowdrift. After an hour of trying to drive and with darkness falling, they called for help. The men hopped aboard the snowmobiles and were driven off the ice. They later retrieved their vehicle once the weather broke.
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