for the General Assembly....

General Assembly Members:

I. The Natural Resources Police (established 1868) continues to loose officers each year, just as we brought to your attention in 2009.

• A. DBM personnel cuts and DNR budgeting of NRP is not keeping up with the lost numbers of officers.
• B. More officers are leaving the agency each year than the department hires. This year is no exception.
• C. The situation is expected to continue in the foreseeable future.

II. Results of the continuous decline in NRP officers.

• A. Response times to emergencies have increased.
• B. Insufficient officers in the field to be the deterrent as they were in the past.

1. Unscrupulous watermen take advantage of the reduced risk to lay siege to the fisheries.

2. Hunting violations will increase due to lack of officers and added responsibilities.

3. A lack of officers creates potential boating safety issues permitting more incidents on the waterways.

4. One illegal anchored gill net killed so many Rockfish that the remainder of Maryland's quota was exhausted forcing DNR to immediately shut down the fishery.

5. Unknown parties clean out the oysters in leased bottoms and sanctuaries.

• C. Promotions for new officers, officer first class, and corporals are scarce.
• D. Many officers fear there is no employment security because of the continual decline of NRP over the past five (5) years.

III. Senator Dyson and Senator Colburn have introduced legislation this year to address this issue.

• A. The Natural Resources Police Force - Number of Officers Bill (SB318):

1. At this point we are trying to replace the officers we already had, but lost due to attrition, budget cuts, and lack of hiring over the years.

2. The Natural Resources Police Force Authorized Strength is set by DBM. This number needs to be increased.

3. The bill is allowing a 10-year span for the State to achieve the number of 435.

4. If it were decided to hire more officers today, it takes almost 2 years to screen; test; complete background checks; to train the new employees in the law, the geography of Maryland, and boat operations; train officers on the equipment on the boats; and for the new officers to establish community contacts to be an effective officer.

• B. The Merger with State Police Bill which was talked about by Senator Dyson:

1. Last year, Senator Dyson alluded to a Merger bill with the State Police that he had in hand ready to drop.

2. All of the Natural Resources Police Fraternal Order of Police Lodges ( 8, 16, 77, AND 130) are in total support of SB 318 – The Number of Officers bill.

We, the Maryland Natural Resources Police officers, want to be able to do our jobs as assigned by the General Assembly following the “public trust doctrine”. It is our responsibility to protect the state’s natural resources on the water and on the land, for the people of this state. But we need more officers to perform this job effectively. We are under staffed and struggling to accomplish our mission because of the insufficient number of officers authorized by DBM and the Governor. We are working hard every day to get the job done properly, but everyday it gets harder and harder due to the increasing lack of officers. All of the electronic surveillance devices in world cannot do the job of men and women on the ground that are needed to respond to the incidents found by the devices. As Natural Resources Police Officer we want to accomplish our mission by providing the protection for all the natural resources of our state and the people using them as established by the legislature.