Michigan Conservation Officers

Michigan Conservation Officers
Michigan Department Of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division
Abbreviation LED
Michigan Conservation Officers Door Seal 1.jpg
Michigan Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division Door Decal
Agency overview
Formed 1887
Employees 230
Annual budget $33,020,000.00 (2011-12)
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction* State of Michigan, USA
MichiganDNRmap.GIF
Map of Michigan Department Of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division's jurisdiction.
Size 97,990 square miles (253,800 km2)
Population 9,883,640 (2010 est.)[1]
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters Lansing, Michigan
Peace Officer Conservation Officers 230
Agency executive Gary Hagler, Director
Districts 9
Website
ht-p://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-42199---,00.html
Footnotes
* Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction.

Michigan Conservation Officers are the enforcement branch of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Their primary duty is to enforce the environmental laws in the state of Michigan. Since Michigan Conservation Officers are fully commissioned peace officers they are empowered to enforce all the laws of the state of Michigan. Many states and nations have Conservation officers but use the term game warden. The terms are synonymous with each other and both have the same job duties. The Michigan Conservation Officers work closely with local police departments, Michigan Sheriff’s departments, the Michigan State Police, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement Division and many other state, federal, and foreign agencies.

Contents

History

"Early Michigan citizens recognized the rich and vast natural treasures surrounding them and the need for their conservation and protection. The result was the nation's first salaried "Game Warden", William Alden Smith, who was appointed in 1887.

Warden Smith was charged principally with appointing deputies for the enforcement of fish and game regulations. The mission of the DNR Law Enforcement Division has expanded substantially since Smith's appointment and now includes protection of all natural resources and the environment, as well as the health and safety of the public.

Today, "Conservation Officers" and other noncommissioned support staff direct their efforts to a wide array of responsibilities designed to support this broad mission. Enforcement, Education, Recreational Safety and Public Outreach represent some of the general categories of services.[2]

Department Overview

Structure

Michigan Conservation Officers fall under the Law Enforcement Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Some states including Oregon and Alaska include Environmental law enforcement under the Department of State Police. This allows resources to be combined and saves the states money by eliminating duplicate services. Combining the two departments also has some disadvantages. Most states don't combine the two departments.

Personnel

The Law Enforcement Division of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has approximately 230 officers.[3]

They are represented in collective bargaining by a union, the Michigan Conservation Officer Association.[4] The last time the Law Enforcement Division (LED) of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources held a recruit academy was in 2007. The academy concluded February 2007. At that time they added 14 new conservation officers.[5]

Rank Structure

Title Insignia
Chief
5 Gold Stars.svg
Captain
Captain insignia gold.svg
Lieutenant
US-OF1B.svg
Sergeant
Sgtpin.jpg
Corporal
Blank - Spacer.png
Officer
Blank - Spacer.png
Recruit
Blank - Spacer.png

Budget

Fiscal Year DNR Budget Law Enforcement Budget Pct. of DNR Budget
2008–2009 265,383,333.00 31,846,000.00 12%
2009–2010 298,572,300.00 28,629,000.00 10%[6]
2010-2011 307,400,000.00 31,627,500.00 10%[7]
2011-2012 330,200,000.00 33,020,000.00 10%
2012-2013 336,500,000.00 33,650,000.00 10%

Vehicles

The conservation officers use the Chevrolet Silverado and Chevrolet Tahoe as patrol vehicles. They also use patrol boats that range in size when they patrol the Great Lakes, inland lakes, rivers, and streams. Other motorized vehicles used include snowmobiles and All Terrain Vehicles or (ATV).

Fallen Officers

From 1908 to date the Michigan Conservation Officers have lost 10 officers in the line of duty.[8] The sacrifice of these officers are customarily recognized on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial or at North American Game Warden Museum on the Jurisdictional Plaque. There are also individual memorials scattered around the state.[8]

Training

Due to budget issues the MDNR Law Enforcement Division have not held a recruit academy since 2007. Instead, once an individual is selected for the position of Conservation Officer and the individual is not certified by MCOLES the MDNR pays the individual to complete the required MCOLES Academy. They then complete the MDNR Environmental Law Enforcement courses. If the individual is MCOLES certified the individual goes through training courses focusing on Environmental Law Enforcement.

Based on the State of Michigan imposing budget restrictions on the LED of the DNR applicants now no longer go through the following process. Once selected by the Department of Natural Resources through a rigorous selection process the recruits go through an intense 22-week live in training period. The live-in training is held at the Michigan State Police training facility in Lansing. Once completed, the recruits are then fully commissioned conservation officers. After the training, the new officers will be assigned a field-training officer for 18 weeks at a variety of locations around the state. Once the probation period is completed, the officers will be assigned to one of the 83 counties in Michigan. Michigan Conservation Officers are certified by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards or MCOLES. [1]

Other

MDNR Report All Poaching Hotline RAP 1-800-292-7800

Notes

See also

  • Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment

Further reading

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Michigan Department of Natural Resources — Department overview Formed 1921 Headquarters Mason Building, Sixth Floor P.O. Box 30028 Lansing, MI 48909 Employees 1,450 Permanent 1,200 seasonal Annual budget $307.4 million (2010) …   Wikipedia

  • Conservation officer — A conservation officer is an employee who has the role of protecting conservation values. Contents 1 Conservation officers by region 1.1 Canada 1.2 United States 2 See also …   Wikipedia

  • Conservation in the United States — A pile of Bison skulls circa 1870. Conservation in the United States can be traced back to the 19th century with the formation of the first National Park. Contents 1 …   Wikipedia

  • Michigan State Police — Michigan Department of State Police Abbreviation MSP Patch of the Michigan State Police …   Wikipedia

  • Michigan gubernatorial election, 2006 — 2002 ← November 7, 2006 → 2010 …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of Michigan — The location of the state of Michigan in the United States of America The following outline provides an overview of and topical guide to the U.S. state of Michigan: Michigan – U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of… …   Wikipedia

  • List of law enforcement agencies in Michigan — This is a list of law enforcement agencies in the state of Michigan. State agencies * Michigan Department of Corrections * Michigan Department of Natural Resources (Conservation Officers) * Michigan State Police County agencies City agencies… …   Wikipedia

  • Civilian Conservation Corps — The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt …   Wikipedia

  • Midwest Regional Conservation Guild — Founded 1980 (1980) Origins Indianapolis Museum of Art and Cleveland Museum of Art Area served …   Wikipedia

  • List of University of Michigan law and government alumni — The parent article is at List of University of Michigan alumni This is a partial list of notable alumni in law, government and public policy from the University of Michigan. Please refer also to the below list:Legislators*Donald M. Baker, (BA, MA …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”