"I am honored to lead a team whose dedication and tireless efforts, both in the field and in the office, help protect our natural resources and the people whose lives, livelihoods, and ways of life depend on a healthy environment.” ~Henry E. Barnet DEP Division of Law Enforcement Director

Message from the Director:

Welcome to DEP's Division of Law Enforcement. Our Division is unique in both its structure and charge. As fully sworn and constituted state law enforcement personnel, DEP officers and investigators have authority to enforce all state criminal and traffic laws as well as agency rules. Nearly 200 employees comprise the Division, housed in five bureaus – Park Police, Environmental Investigations, Emergency Response, Operational Support and Planning, as well as the Training Center.

Some of the most recognizable members are our Park Police officers who provide protection within Florida’s state parks, submerged coastal and aquatic managed areas, and greenways and trails. Our officers also patrol aquatic preserves, national estuarine research reserves, and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Our special agents in the Bureau of Environmental Investigations conducted almost 350 criminal investigations that led to nearly 150 arrests in 2007 alone. By investigating environmental crimes, often as the result of citizen tips, the Bureau of Environmental Investigations is putting a stop to the harmful effects of environmental crimes and protecting Florida’s resources for the future.

Staff within the Bureau of Emergency Response handle both inland and coastal hazardous waste spills as well as forensic analyses supporting criminal investigations. In 2007, the Bureau of Emergency Response responded to more than 2,100 incidents. In 2005, following Hurricane Katrina our staff were deployed to Gulfport, Mississippi where they led HAZMAT assessment teams. They discovered more than 300 containers of potentially hazardous materials ranging from 55-gallon drums of oil to cylinders of chlorine gas.

Ensuring continued education and training, our state-recognized Training Center provides instruction in both traditional classroom settings and via distance training courses. In 2007, the Training Center issued nearly 1,000 training certificates.

The Bureau of Operational Support and Planning provides essential support services to the Division in the following areas: budget and financial management, computer applications and development, procurement of vehicles and other division-wide needs, data entry, radio communications and records management of officer activity.

Our Division is also involved in the state’s counter-terrorism efforts through Florida’s Environmental Response Team. Formed in 2001 following the terrorist attack on the United States, the multi-agency Environmental Response Team can be mobilized within hours. With specialized equipment and highly trained personnel, the Environmental Response Team is on call to respond to chemical or biological incidents that endanger lives or the environment.

Year-round, the Division of Law Enforcement’s staff trains diligently to prepare for environmental emergencies. I am honored to lead a team whose dedication and tireless efforts, both in the field and in the office, help protect our natural resources and the people whose lives, livelihoods, and ways of life depend on a healthy environment.

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with our Division and our capabilities. Thank you for visiting our site, and we hope you return often.

Henry E. Barnet
Director

top

Timeline of the Division

Florida Marine Patrol officer Jenna Solly. Photo courtesy of State Archives of Florida.

1913: The Division of Law Enforcement (Division) was created in 1913 with the establishment of the Shellfish Commission to supervise and regulate the newly emerging commercial oyster industry.

1933: The Shellfish Commission was included in a Board of Conservation which had a larger scope of environmental responsibilities, including waterway navigation, marine resource protection and conservation, geological and mineral resource conservation, and marine biological research. The Board of Conservation eventually became the Department of Natural Resources, and the regulation and enforcement of the saltwater commercial and recreational fisheries industries was placed in the Division of Law Enforcement.

Law Enforcement Officers patrol Lake Kissimmee State Park. Photo courtesy of State Archives of Florida.

1974: The Division became responsible for enforcing the Pollution Spill Prevention and Control Act.

1993: The Environmental Reorganization Act added significant new authority to the Division. With the merger of the departments of Natural Resources and Environmental Regulation into the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Division gained enforcement responsibilities for the state’s air, water, and waste regulations.

1994: The Legislature transferred 77 positions from the Division of Recreation and Parks to the Division of Law Enforcement to better provide law enforcement needs within the state park system. The Division assumed responsibility for public safety and environmental protection in state parks and on all other Board of Trustees’ lands. The Divison became the only statewide law enforcement agency operating within the territorial waters of the state.

Director Henry Barnet leads by example both in the office and in the field.

1998: the Division was reorganized and its mission was refocused to concentrate on criminal environmental enforcement and investigations to protect the state's air, drinking water, natural resources, lands and coastal environment, as well as the protection of the visitors to and resources of DEP managed lands.

2008: Since its creation nearly a century ago, DEP’s Division of Law Enforcement has evolved from a small regulatory agency with very narrow marine conservation-related duties into the lead law enforcement division for Florida's environmental protection.

History of the Division

Florida Board of Conservation patrol boat at Manatee Springs State Park. Photo courtesy of State Archives of Florida.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Division of Law Enforcement is the first state law enforcement agency.

The Division of Law Enforcement (Division) was created in 1913 with the establishment of the Shellfish Commission to supervise and regulate the newly emerging commercial oyster industry. In 1933, the Shellfish Commission was included in the State Board of Conservation with a larger scope of environmental responsibilities, including waterway navigation, marine resource protection and conservation, geological and mineral resource conservation, and marine biological research. Prior to 1967, the Conservation Patrol, which had full law enforcement authority, included 105 Conservation Officers and 12 Boating Safety Officers responsible for state-wide enforcement of the general conservation and boating laws.

As the role of the environmental agency continued to expand, the Board of Conservation became the Department of Natural Resources, and the regulation and enforcement of the saltwater commercial and recreational fisheries industries was placed in the Division of Law Enforcement. In 1974, the Division was also charged with enforcement responsibility for the Pollution Spill Prevention and Control Act. By this time, the Division grew to 198 sworn and 41 non-sworn personnel.

Florida Marine Patrol officers rescue passengers from a burning boat. Photo courtesy of State Archives of Florida.

The Environmental Reorganization Act of 1993 added significant new authority to the Division. With the merger of the departments of Natural Resources and Environmental Regulation, the Division gained enforcement responsibilities for the state’s air, water, and waste regulations. In 1994, the Legislature transferred 77 positions from the Division of Recreation and Parks to the Division of Law Enforcement to better provide law enforcement needs within the state park system.

This action created the Florida Park Patrol, and the Division assumed the responsibility for public safety and environmental protection in the Florida State Park system and on all other Board of Trustees’ lands, including the former Cross Florida Barge Canal and Greenways and Trails properties. The Division now employed 458 sworn personnel and 159 civilian personnel and was the only statewide law enforcement agency operating within the territorial waters of the state.

In 1998, the Division was reorganized and its mission was refocused to concentrate on criminal environmental enforcement and investigations to protect the state's air, drinking water, natural resources, lands and coastal environment, as well as the protection of the visitors to and resources of the State Park System.

The Division Today

Bureau of Emergency Response personnel assess a potential threat to Florida’s environment and citizens.

Following the reorganization in the late 1990s, environmental conservation efforts have evolved from minimal protection 30 years ago to today’s complex set of plans, permits, rules, and standards designed to protect air and water quality, human health, and habitat. The Division is now charged with the responsibility of providing statewide environmental resource law enforcement, general law enforcement services and emergency response to incidents that negatively effect our environment and citizens.

The Division, through the Bureau of Environmental Investigations (BEI), initiates criminal environmental investigations to protect the state's air quality, drinking water, natural resources and lands, and arrests violators involved in major environmental criminal activity.

The Division is the sole law enforcement agency with the primary responsibility of protecting the people who visit and work within the state parks, greenways and trails, and aquatic preserves.

As part of its mission, the Division’s 22 responders within the Bureau of Emergency Response (BER) provide scene assessment, hazard identification and appropriate response to incidents involving oil and hazardous substances representing an imminent hazard, or threat of a hazard to the environment or to the public’s health, welfare and safety. BER personnel also conduct criminal forensics activities and provide other investigative support to the agents of the Bureau of Environmental Investigations during environmental crimes case development and assist DEP Regulatory personnel with hazardous material sampling for administrative cases. Additionally, they coordinate statewide response efforts at the Emergency Operations Center related to hazardous substances and spills, as well as the full range of Department missions during a disaster.

DEP staff in the Mobile Command Unit.

Division personnel also participate in, and serve as the lead agency for the Environmental Response Team (ERT). The ERT was formed in 2001 in support of the State’s domestic security efforts to respond anywhere in the state within hours at the request of a local incident commander or another state agency. The team is comprised of criminal investigators, emergency responders, uniformed law enforcement officers, and other representatives from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Department of Health, Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Department of Financial Services, Florida Wildlife & Conservation Commission, Florida Highway Patrol, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Since its creation nearly a century ago, DEP’s Division of Law Enforcement has evolved from a small regulatory agency with very narrow marine conservation-related duties into the lead law enforcement division for Florida's environmental protection.

top