DNR is a very active SAFET group...news here

[del1964]

Whitaker to lead District 2 law enforcement

Gary Whitaker, an 18-year officer with the DNR Division of Law Enforcement, has been promoted to Lieutenant in District 2, a nine-county area of northeast Indiana.

As the top-ranking officer in the district, Whitaker will be responsible for administrative duties and supervision of 19 Indiana conservation officers.

“I am very excited to have the opportunity to lead the officers in District 2 and can assure the public that our officers are committed to ensuring the safe and responsible use of our state’s natural resources,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker, 41, has spent the last five years in the Investigation Section of DNR Law Enforcement. Prior to that, he was a field officer for 13 years in Allen and LaGrange counties.

He is a certified instructor in river rescue and has completed training in several specialty areas, including boat accident investigation and homicide investigation. Whitaker is a 1990 graduate of Vincennes University, where he majored in law enforcement. He joined the DNR in October 1992 and was a 1993 honors graduate of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.

District 2 is headquartered in Columbia City. It is one of 10 DNR Law Enforcement districts and includes Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wells and Whitley counties.

DNR's Law Enforcement Division employs 214 conservation officers who serve the public and protect the natural heritage of Indiana. Founded in 1897, the Law Enforcement Division is the oldest state law enforcement agency, and one of the most diverse.

In addition to enforcing state laws, Indiana conservation officers are active in a variety of non-enforcement activities, such as boater, snowmobile, hunter and trapper education programs, the Karl Kelley Youth Camp, and the Becoming an Outdoors Woman programs. They also are trained and assigned to specialty response units, including river rescue, cave rescue, underwater search and recovery, and K-9 teams.

 

[KidClerk]

It used to be the case that DNR officers actually had more arrest authority than state police officers due to their jurisdiction in enforcing some federal laws as they pertained to hunting and gaming. I would presume that's still the case.

 

[frankcastle]

It used to be the case that DNR officers actually had more arrest authority than state police officers due to their jurisdiction in enforcing some federal laws as they pertained to hunting and gaming. I would presume that's still the case.

DNR is a federal agency, so yes they have more powers than the state police do.

 

[GTO_04]

DNR is a federal agency, so yes they have more powers than the state police do.

Federal agency? That's news to me.

GTO_04

 

[W9NES]

DNR officers can also run Radar and also give you a speeding ticket.They do have more power than A Indiana State Police Trooper.

 

[del1964]

I have heard them running checks on people as if they had pulled them over for a motor vehicle violation.

 

[jerk]

They have the same arrest powers as any other State law enforcement official and the same as any other who's gone through Plainfield.

Jurisdiction is different from most State law enforcement.

 

[W9NES]

DNR can go anywhere in the state and the Juridiction is The State Of Indiana. DNR Covers conservation Law and enforement and The Indiana State Police do not enforce Conservation Law.Only DNR officers can do that.

 

[djl998]

DNR is a federal agency, so yes they have more powers than the state police do.

DNR is not federal, and they have the same arrest power as every other law enforcement officer in the state. They focus on a certain set of laws that no other agency does, but that doesn't make them more "powerful."

 

[bamx2]

C 14-9-8-16
Powers and duties of conservation officers
Sec. 16. (a) A conservation officer of the division:
(1) has all necessary police powers to enforce the natural resources laws; and
(2) may, without warrant, arrest a person for a violation of those laws when committed in the officer's presence.
(b) A conservation officer shall do the following:
(1) Detect and prevent violations of natural resources laws.
(2) Enforce natural resources laws and rules.
(3) Perform other related duties that are imposed upon conservation officers by law.
(c) A conservation officer has the same power with respect to natural resources matters and the enforcement of the laws relating to natural resources laws as have law enforcement officers in their respective jurisdictions. A warrant of arrest or search warrant issued by proper authority may be executed by a conservation officer in any county.
As added by P.L.1-1995, SEC.2.

IC 14-9-8-17
Police and arrest powers
Sec. 17. A conservation officer:
(1) is a law enforcement officer under IC 9-13-2-92 and IC 35-41-1-17 and has the power to enforce Indiana laws and without warrant to arrest for the violation of any of those laws when committed in the officer's presence;
(2) is a police officer under IC 9-13-2-127;
(3) has the power of law enforcement officers to arrest under IC 35-33-1-1; and
(4) has the power to enforce Indiana laws and may exercise all powers granted by law to state police officers, sheriffs, and members of police departments.

 

[W9NES]

Thank You bamx 2 for posting the IC Code title 14 on the duties on a DNR Conservation Officer.This also includes running radar and they can issue a speeding ticket.

 

[frankcastle]

DNR is not federal, and they have the same arrest power as every other law enforcement officer in the state. They focus on a certain set of laws that no other agency does, but that doesn't make them more "powerful."

I'm afraid you are wrong on this issue. I work in law enforcement and know this to be fact. DNR works under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (a federal agency).

 

[W9NES]

IDNR is a State Agency not a Federal Agency.IDNR Enforces Conservation Law which covers a large area of enforcement.IC 14-9-8-16 says nothing about IDNR having federal powers.There is a Seperate Agency with the US Goverment called US Fish and Widlife. USFW is Federal and the do have Federal Powers. They are Federal Officers within the US Goverment.

 

[Viper43]

I'm afraid you are wrong on this issue. I work in law enforcement and know this to be fact. DNR works under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (a federal agency).

After reading your comments on this I had to ask one of the DNR officers I know and well, he had a good laugh at your comments. DNR officers are 100% INDIANA STATE employees, NOT FEDERAL. They do work with them and train with them on occasion but in no way are affiliated with USFW. He also stated if he were a federal officer he took the wrong oath.....lol

V

 

[KidClerk]

I googled this and found a forum called PoliceLink where a DNR officer posted this reply to a question. Maybe I didn't word my original comments correctly, but the basis is still the same....conservation officers have some authority above state trooper, and can do everything else that a trooper does.

"I am an Indiana Conservation Officer and I get this question constantly.


In Indiana, we are state law enforcement officers. We enforce all laws of the state of Indiana, and do so frequently while we are pursuing our agency mission, which is to protect natural resources. We have some federal authority in the areas of fish and game, which allows us to charge some cases in federal court.



Of course, it doesn't hurt when the public (or other police agencies) think you have more authority that you really do. So I usually just nod and smile."

 

[frankcastle]

I stand corrected, and I am man enough to admit when I am wrong. I spent a day training with DNR. They basically explained to the class their duties and responsibilities. They said they same thing that KidClerk did. "We have some federal authority in the areas of fish and game, which allows us to charge some cases in federal court." I misunderstood that to mean that they are a federal agency working under the umbrella of the US Fish and Wildlife Agency. They do have a much broader scope of laws that they enforce, so this does give them the ability to go after violators that local, county, or state police wouldn't. My apologies for the hornets nest I seemed to have stirred up.

 

[bamx2]

I stand corrected, and I am man enough to admit when I am wrong. I spent a day training with DNR. They basically explained to the class their duties and responsibilities. They said they same thing that KidClerk did. "We have some federal authority in the areas of fish and game, which allows us to charge some cases in federal court." I misunderstood that to mean that they are a federal agency working under the umbrella of the US Fish and Wildlife Agency. They do have a much broader scope of laws that they enforce, so this does give them the ability to go after violators that local, county, or state police wouldn't. My apologies for the hornets nest I seemed to have stirred up.

Any law enforcement officer can enfore the parts of the wildlife code (or what ever Indiana calls it) that is written into IC. I don't know as far as the "Indiana Administrative Code" though, which is seperate from IC codes, and not enacted by the legislature.

Indiana Administrative Code TITLE 312 NATURAL RESOURCES COMMISSION is the rules regarding DNR. I also found this regarding DNR agents duties in there:

312 IAC 4-2-3 Officer procedures and priorities
Authority: IC 14-9-8-3
Affected: IC 14-9-8
Sec. 3. (a) The division director shall determine the following with respect to conservation officers:
(1) When legally mandated authority should be vested.
(2) When alternatives to arrest should be pursued.
(3) When sound discretion should be applied.
(b) Primary areas of law enforcement responsibility within the division are as follows:
(1) Fish and wildlife laws.
(2) Recreational boating laws.
(3) Department property rules.
(4) Investigation and reporting to the division of incidents resulting from recreational activities. Examples include accidents
associated with hunting, boating, swimming, and the operation of recreational vehicles.
(5) Any other responsibility identified by the division director in a special order.
(Natural Resources Commission; 312 IAC 4-2-3; filed Aug 3, 2001, 11:07 a.m.: 24 IR 3935; readopted filed May 29, 2007, 9:49 a.m.:
20070613-IR-312070145RFA)