Formed 1936 | ||
 | ||
Common name NYC Sanitation Police, DSNY Police Preceding agency Municipal Law Enforcement Legal personality Governmental: Government agency Operations jurisdiction* City of New York in the state of New York, United States Size 468.9 square miles (1,214 km) | ||
The New York City Department of Sanitation Police is the law enforcement arm of the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY), primarily responsible for investigating sanitation-related offenses, among other duties, within and concerning the City of New York.
Contents
Overview
Numbering approximately 130 officers, lieutenants, inspectors and chiefs, the Sanitation Police is made up of sanitation workers and supervisors who have applied to undertake law enforcement duties. Sanitation Peace Officers retain their original civil service title as (Sanitation worker) while assigned to this division.
Training and Typical Equipment
Upon successfully undergoing sixteen weeks of law enforcement education and training, graduates are granted New York State Peace Officer status. Sanitation Officers carry a firearm after being issue a handgun permit by the New York City Police Department's pistol licensing section and are also equipped with handcuffs, pepper spray, and batons, radios and other related law enforcement/public safety equipment.
Once officers complete the four-month training academy, they undergo on-the-job field training with experienced personnel before being issued assignments.
Officers also undergo yearly training to keep up with current laws and procedures and to re-qualify on previous qualifications.
Power and authority
Sanitation Law Enforcement Officers are New York State Peace Officers as per the Section 2.10 sub 59 of the New York State Criminal Procedure Law which gives them limited powers to make arrests, use physical and deadly physical force, Sanitation peace officers enforce sanitation provisions within the NYC Administrative Code (including illegal dumping), issue criminal court summonses, environmental control board summonses, and vehicle and traffic law summonses.
Operations
Patrolling both in uniform and in plainclothes, Sanitation Peace Officers have responsibilities ranging from summonsing residents for mixing recyclable and non-recyclable trash to investigating the illegal dumping of refuse, commercial and toxic waste. One notable example occurred in 1996, when Environmental Enforcement Officers assisted the New York City Police Department with investigating the death of a sanitation worker who was killed when he was struck in the face by deadly hydrofluoric acid that was mixed with ordinary garbage. The suspect was arrested by detectives from the New York City Police Department for aggravated manslaughter.
Divisions
There are a number of divisions within the Sanitation Police, with each division handling different law enforcement functions:
Officers of the Sanitation Police are also assigned to the New York City Business Integrity Commission and the New York City Office of Emergency Management.