- New York City Department of Homeless Services Police
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New York City Department of Homeless Services Police Common name New York City Homeless Services Police Abbreviation NYC DHS Police 
Patch of the New York City Department of Homeless Services Police. 
Badge of the New York City Department of Homeless Services Police. Agency overview Formed 1997 Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Jurisdictional structure Operations jurisdiction* City of New York in the state of New York, USA 
Map of New York City Department of Homeless Services Police's jurisdiction. Size 1,214.4 km² Population 8,274,527 Legal jurisdiction New York City General nature Specialist jurisdiction Buildings and lands occupied or explicitly controlled by the institution and the institution's personnel, and public entering the buildings and precincts of the institution. Operational structure Homeless Services Police Officers 380 Deputy Commissioner for Security Services and Emergency Operations Michael Gagliardi Agency executive Joseph A. Garcia, Director of Peace Officers Parent agency New York City Department of Homeless Services Website NYC Department of Homeless Services Official Site Footnotes * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. The New York City Department of Homeless Services Police (NYC DHS Police) is a law enforcement agency in New York City whose duties are to provide police services to the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS), and to enforce state and city laws at all facilities operated by the New York City Department of Homeless Services.
Contents
History
The New York City Department of Homeless Services was created in 1993 and made a mayoral agency in 1999. The Department of Homeless Services Police (DHS Police) was started in 1997 with approximately 65 peace officers assigned to various DHS facilities. By 2002, the DHS Police had over 270 peace officers at DHS facilities.
Prior to 1997, there were peace officers stationed at a facility named Camp Laguardia, which was a homeless shelter in Orange County, New York. This facility was run by the New York City Human Resources Administration prior to 1993 as were all other city operated homeless shelters. The HRA Police was the law enforcement agency at the facility. In 1993 when the Department of Homeless Services was formed, the HRA Police officers at the facility were given DHS Police patches and badges. Approximately 40 peace officers were left at the facility including 1 captain, 1 lieutenant, 6 sergeants, and the rest were officers. All other city run shelters were using private security guards. Camp Laguardia had DHS Police officers assigned to it until it closed. In 1997 when it was observed how well and efficient it was to have peace officers in city run shelters, DHS started placing peace officers in other shelters it operated.[1]
Training
When the Department of Homeless Services Police was established, the training given to officers was a one week peace officer training course. By June 2002, the training course was expanded to four weeks, including two days of training with the New York City Police Department. The current training course is six weeks long, of which five weeks of training is given at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and one week of training is given at the Department of Homeless Services headquarters in Manhattan. The training course includes training in law, police science, powers of a peace officer, defensive tactics, community interaction, radio use, arrest procedures, and first aid/CPR. Re-training is done on a continuous basis to maintain the force at top level of efficiency at john jay college and specialized Training at the Rockland County Police Academy .
Power and Authority
NYC Department of Homeless Services Police officers are New York State peace officers authorized to make warrantless arrests, make car stops, issue summonses, and use physical and deadly force.[2]
Vehicles
The New York City Department of Homeless Services Police currently utilizes fully marked Ford E-350 vans and unmarked Ford Explorers,jeep cherokee also ford fusion for its vehiclefleet.[3][4][5][6]
Equipment
NYC Department of Homeless Services Police officers are not permitted to carry a firearm while on duty currently, however there are plans to arm officers in the near future. Currently, they are equipped with an expandable baton, pepper spray, handcuffs, flashlight, reflective traffic vest, bullet resistant vest, personal handheld metal detectors and a radio that is directly linked to the Central Dispatcher and other officers. Some officers are also equipped with a taser hand gun.[7]
See also
A NYC Department of Homeless Services Police Task Force patch. - List of law enforcement agencies in New York
- Law enforcement in New York City
- New York City Police Department
- Security police
References
- ^ http://www.nyc.gov/html/dhs/downloads/pdf/stratplan.pdf About the New York City Department of Homeless Services
- ^ http://ypdcrime.com/cpl/article2.htm Article 2 Peace Officers Section 2.20 Powers of peace officers
- ^ DHS Police van
- ^ DHS Police van
- ^ DHS Police van
- ^ DHS Police van
- ^ NYC DHS Peace Officers
External links
Categories:- Specialist law enforcement agencies
- Specialist police departments of New York
- Law enforcement agencies of New York City
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