POLICE CHIEFS SAY REFUGE LAW ENFORCEMENT NEEDS EXPANDING
The law enforcement needs of the National Wildlife Refuge System are expanding, according to an independent assessment conducted by the International Association of the Chiefs of Police (IACP) for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The report calls for stronger centralized leadership of the program and an increase in the number of full-time refuge officers, and recommends additional improvements to operations, training, and recruitment to meet the challenges posed by rapidly increasing visitation and encroaching urbanization on national wildlife refuges across the country. The full text of the report, Protecting the National Wildlife Refuge System: Law Enforcement Requirements for the 21st Century, is available online at http://bluegoose.arw.r9.fws.gov/new.html.
"To continue to protect our natural resources and serve the public that visits national wildlife refuges, our law enforcement capabilities must expand and improve," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Jamie Rappaport Clark. "We are grateful to the IACP for conducting this thorough and constructive assessment of our needs, and for providing us with recommendations on how to meet the challenges ahead."
Refuge law enforcement officers have broad responsibilities to investigate crime and apprehend criminals on and adjacent to our refuges. They are responsible for protecting facilities and natural resources, ensuring visitor safety, and ensuring compliance with state and federal laws on the more than 530 national wildlife refuges across the country. Although violent crime on refuges continues to be rare and visitors to America
