TO THE CITIZENS OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
Currently discussions are under way in the Governor"s Office to eliminate the Illinois Conservation Police Officer (CPO) position from the Department of Natural Resources and merge it into the Illinois State Police. While we commend the Governor for his efforts to streamline services within State Government, we respectfully disagree with this specific proposal. Any realized fiscal benefit, we believe, would be far outweighed by the potential risk to the State"s Natural Resources and those citizens actively involved in Outdoor recreational activities.
Since 1885, The Illinois Conservation Police has acted as the officially designated Law Enforcement Agency charged by the legislature with enforcing laws related to hunting, fishing, boating, snowmobiling, forestry, endangered species and state park protection. These duties are still proudly and faithfully carried out today. In addition to these duties, CPO"s are fully trained and certified police officers with full arrest powers. As such, they are entrusted to take the necessary action, anywhere in the State, needed to protect the safety of its citizens.
We recognize and appreciate the services and protection provided to the citizens of Illinois by the Illinois State Police. We further recognize though, that legislators wisely decided to keep each agency separate and distinct, understanding that in order to provide maximum benefit and protection to public safety and natural resources, each should operate independent of the other.
Conservation Police Officers have been effective in executing assigned duties because of the close, personal and professional contacts members maintain with citizens in their area, constituency groups and other Department of Natural Resources personnel involved in resource protection. A list of additional points highlighting reasons why we believe CPO"s should remain as a separate agency is attached for your review.
If you believe that Conservation Police Officers play an integral role in resource protection and are most effective working within the framework of the Department of Natural Resources, please contact the Governor"s Office and express your opinion. Additional contacts with your State Representative and Senator requesting they oppose any such effort is also requested. This matter is moving forward quickly and with no input from those most likely impacted by the change. Please take action now!
Sincerely,
The Illinois Conservation Police Lodge
http://www.cpol.org
The Governor can be contacted at:
www.governor@state.il.us
Office of the Governor
207 State House
Springfield, Illinois 62706
Locate Legislators using your zip code:
www.illinois.gov/government/gov_legislature
Considerations reference the Governor"s Proposed Merger of The Illinois Conservation Police into The Illinois State Police
Because of their assigned duties, The Illinois Conservation Police Officer (CPO) is unlike any other police officer in the State. This fact is acknowledged in that, after the initial 10 week police training academy required of all law enforcement officers, the CPO then goes through a second, 12 week academy. This second academy is designed to teach the CPO the information and techniques needed to perform his or her assigned duties. As described below in greater detail, unique rules/regulations, unique equipment, and a unique role in state government makes combining the role of the CPO into any other Law Enforcement group impractical.
Economic Concerns:
The State Budget for 2004 is estimated at $52.4 Billion Dollars. The Illinois Conservation Police budget (Officers, Support Personnel, Equipment and all expenses) represents 3/1000th of 1% percent (.0003) of that budget. Is the risk of harm to our Natural Resources or to the safety of those people enjoying them worth .0003 percent - even during tough times?
Assume enforcement will take place but will be merged into the State Police. Personnel and equipment are still needed. The savings now is far less than .0003 AND you have lost the presence of a force dedicated to the protection of the resource. We now must ask not what the savings will be but, what the cost to the resource will be in the long run.
Many of the programs run by the Department of Natural Resources impacting the public are contingent upon the fees gained through licensing and permits. Compliance checks are essential to the success of those programs. Failure to have a dedicated force to ensure compliance with regulations will most assuredly result in diminishing revenues for the programs.
Because the Illinois Conservation Police are paid less than the Illinois State Police, a merger most likely would ADD to the budget deficit. - Yes, the Officers know they could possibly make more money but are still overwhelmingly in favor of remaining under the DNR, where we believe we can deliver the best service to the public!
Monies provided to Department from Federal Funding sources could possibly be jeopardized. Those funds total more than the entire Law Enforcement Budget!
Public Safety Concerns:
In Law Enforcement there is a General Rule that says: The danger lies not in what the officer sees, but in what he does not see. For the public, they too tend to believe in this rule. They sense safety in parks when they see an officer presence.
Required Law Enforcement responses to the normal, everyday problems would most likely fall on the local Sheriff"s Deputies, pulling them away from their mandated duties elsewhere causing a greater stress on that system and budget.
Conservation Police Officers specialize in routine encounters with citizens in a recreational setting. Some of the people are bearing guns and other instruments the normal officer would interpret as a deadly weapon. Our officers realize these are tools of a sport. It is only through extensive training and repeated encounters that officers learn to conduct these encounters safely while respecting the rights of those engaged in the activity. A local officer once told me, you have got to be nuts to walk up to a guy carrying a gun without your gun drawn. My reply: Not nuts - just properly trained.
Throughout most of the State, it is the Conservation Officer who is called upon when an emergency occurs on the waters of this state. You can create marine units that will operate during the summer months, but what happens when the emergency occurs at a time those officers are reassigned to other duties during non-boating months?
Having an Officer dedicated to patrolling the State Parks that is familiar with the "Outdoors" is essential to protecting the parks and its visitors properly. Yes, any officer can patrol the park - but what is lost when that same officer does not have an understanding as to what they are protecting? Knowledge = Success
Each year, CPO"s attend and speak at over 550 safety classes sponsored by the DNR throughout the State. Having "experts" review applicable laws with regard to hunting, fishing, trapping, boating and snowmobiling ensures that the public is getting the most accurate information available. This helps to ensure the safety of all citizens participating in that activity.
Resource Protection Concerns:
Conservation Police Officers have powers granted by the legislature, specific to fish and game enforcement, that are only to be used by the CPO"s. Those powers, related to search and seizure, were granted specifically to further resource protection. No CPO = NO SPECIAL POWERS = REDUCED RESOURCE PROTECTION
To be effective enforcing resource related statutes, one must first be able to properly identify the resource. What kind of fish is it? What kind of bird is it - what protections are afforded this particular species? The public will have little tolerance for untrained officers who disturb their leisure activities.
Some programs, goose hunting for example, are tied directly to enforcement efforts of the Officers. Compliance rates determined by Officer initiated contact, determines the length of the season in Northern and Central Illinois. Good compliance - longer season, poor compliance - shorter season.
Site specific regulations, designed to protect a specific resource or address a specific problem at a particular location, would not be adequately enforced by an untrained officer passing through a State Park. Additionally, regulations protecting species can change frequently. The Officers currently enforcing these laws understand education is as important as enforcement.
Why be with the DNR - Why not with the State Police
The current proposal has SOME of the CPO"s being moved to the State Police. What happens to the rest?
The Illinois State Police mission is different from that of the Illinois Conservation Police. Since 1885 Illinois Citizens have acknowledged and supported the need to have a separate police force dedicated to the protection of the resource.
The CPO acts as the State"s Ambassador between the public and government on issues related to the State"s Natural Resources. Combining agencies would destroy the identity of the CPO that remains critical to the success of resource protection.
As a practitioner of "Community Oriented Policing" since 1885, citizens throughout the state make personal contact with their local officers when the need arises. CPO"s respond 24 hours a day - not just when working a shift. The public knows whom to call when there is an emergency. That fact has led to many good resource cases.
CPO"s handle most incidents they encounter "cradle to grave." That is to say, citizens requiring the assistance of a DNR officer would, most likely, have that same officer when the problem or incident is resolved as they did when it started. No passing the buck, no sending the citizen through the maze of State Government.
Legitimate concerns exist that after any initial transfer, resources needed by the CPO"s to accomplish their mandated mission would be drained off to be used by the State Police to accomplish their mission.
Regulations regarding outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing and trapping can change from season to season in order to protect a specific resource. To effectively enforce such regulations requires not only knowledge of the regulation but an understanding as to the goal of the regulation.
Officers routinely work with other agencies outside the State of Illinois to coordinate important enforcement details within the State. Whom would they contact / work with?
YOUR SUPPORT IS APPRECIATED!
Illinois Conservation Police Lodge
17 Woodland Lakes
Petersburg, Illinois 62675
Illinois Hunters
