The New York City Department of Sanitation comprises approximately 70 members including officers, lieutenants, inspectors, and chiefs. Members are drawn from sanitation workers, supervisors, superintendents, and chiefs who have volunteered to undertake law enforcement duties. They retain their original civil service title, depending on their rank while assigned to the unit.
Training and typical equipment
New York City Department of Sanitation recruits are required by the New York State Municipal Peace Officer Training Council to undergo and pass a 16-week training course before they become peace officers within the Sanitation Law Enforcement Division. The training given in this course includes training in penal law, police science, discipline, powers of a peace officer, radio use, defensive tactics, unarmed and armed self-defense, physical training, chemical training, handcuffing techniques, and arrest procedures, among other subjects. Upon successfully graduating, the New York City Department of Sanitation grants trainees peace officer status all officers use handcuffs, pepper spray, expandable ASP baton, radios, and other related law enforcement and public safety equipment. Once assigned, officers undergo 400 hours of on-the-job field training with experienced personnel before being issued permanent assignments. All officers also undergo continuing education training to re-qualify on equipment and learn about changes in law and department procedures.
Power and authority
Officers designated by the New York City Department of Sanitation are NYS Certified Peace Officers with limited authority and powers as provided for in New York State Criminal Procedure Law Section 2.10, subsection 59. They enforce sanitation laws and strive to improve the quality of life in NYC. Some of the areas of focus are illegal dumping, environmental-related summonses, theft of recyclables, truck enforcement, illegally parked vehicles, littering, public urinating and improper disposal of solid waste just to name a few. Other enforcement operations, and the transportation of waste within the city. They can also issue various summonses which include Environmental Control Board summonses, Vehicle and traffic law summonses, NYC Parking Violation Summonses and NYC Criminal Court summonses.
Operations
Working both in uniform and in plainclothes, 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.
The Uniformed New York City Department of Sanitation
The Illegal Dumping Task Force
Divisions
There are a number of units within the New York City Department of Sanitation, with each unit handling different law enforcement functions:
The Citywide Illegal Dumping Task Force headed by an Inspector