As I have written before, The General Assembly’s Program Review and Investigations (PRI) Committee serves as a “watchdog” charged with examining state government programs and their administration to determine whether the programs are effective, continue to serve their intended purposes, are conducting efficiently and effectively or whether they require modification or complete elimination.

As the Co-Chairman of this important Committee, I take pride in our bipartisan approach to government efficiency.  The PRI Committee has embarked on five extensive studies this year, four of which I have already detailed in this column over the last several weeks.  This week, I would like to share with you some of the preliminary information from the fifth and final study, which examines the Division of State Environmental Conservation Police, also known as EnCon, and was just released on July 19th. 

This initial report was broken down into four sections - an overview of EnCon’s mission, authority, and training requirements, a look at its organization and structure, a review of its budget and staffing trends, and finally a look at the trends of enforcement actions take by EnCon police over time. 

Interestingly, EnCon officers have the longest history of service of all state law enforcement entities.  However, their role has expanded over time from simply protecting fish and game.  EnCon police are now certified police officers and help enforce criminal laws, police the 100+ state parks and forests, assist and support homeland security efforts, and respond to search and rescue missions and missing person incidents in state parks, forests, lakes, and rivers, among many other duties.

Total full-time staffing is 50 officers and three trainees and the division consists of three districts, East West, and Marine along with the headquarters staff.  The EnCon police have also developed specialized units made up of personnel with advanced training and special equipment to address particular issues.  They include the Boating Accident Reconstruction Unit, Tranquilizer Teams, and an All Terrain Vehicle Enforcement Unit.  

The division has an ongoing budget of $6.1 million, which comes from four sources:  the State’s General Fund, fees such as the Environmental Conservation Fund, the federal government (Coast Guard and Homeland Security) and special funding such as the Nuclear Safety Emergency Response Fund. 

We are concerned with trends we have uncovered that will dictate future staffing needs.  Over the years, we have increased the territory covered by EnCon officers, and we have not increased their ranks.  Further, due to the age of our current force, we expect almost half of the current officers to retire by the end of 2009.  Since the training for new recruits can take up to four years, we will need to make recommendations to the General Assembly to address these looming issues.