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Environmental Issues--Enforcement
- Coastal Bureau (15 vacancies)
Officers' responsibilities:
- Monitoring all marine fishing and shellfishing.
- Ensure that contaminated shellfish are not brought to market.
- Enforce recreational boating laws.
"Rules are falling by the wayside, because no enforcement is happening"
- Bill Adler, Mass. Lobstermen's Association - Inland Bureau (6 vacancies)
Officers' Responsibilities:
- Enforce hunting laws
- Keep motorized vehicles from prohibited trails
- Patrol state parks and campgrounds
"It's crazy in the summer, people are climbing over the fences to get into the state parks to avoid paying. The state police won't take this detail because it's too much work."
- Environmental Police Officer - Hazardous Waste/Attorney General (5 vacancies)
Officers' responsibilities
- Accompany inspectors on high-level, potentially dangerous inspections
- Serve warrants for searches, investigate environmental crimes
"We used to have an officer in each region to help inspectors, we're down from 9 officers to 4 and we can't provide them with the protection they need"
- Environmental Police Officer - Boating and Safety (2 vacancies)
Officers' responsibilities:
- Patrol entire Massachusetts coast
- Assist Coast Guard
These officers are working with two 20-year-old vessels and short staffing, at personal risk to the officers.
"We don't even have breathalyzers to enforce the Operating Under the Influence laws - when we can catch up with people."
- Environmental Police Officer - Total resource need (2001 dollars)
28 vacancies x $70,000 cost per entry-level officer* = $1,960,000
*cost based on the following:
$38,000 starting salary
4,000 holidays, shift adjustments (officers work early and late shifts)
16,000 vehicle, other equipment costs
12,000 fringe benefits
$70,000 total per officer