Union: Specialized DEC, State Park units remain critically understaffed

ALBANY | PBA of New York State (PBANYS) member units ushered in 2025 with the addition of 64 new specialized police officers who recently graduated from the state's Environmental Conservation Officer, Forest Ranger, and Park Police Officer Academies; unfortunately, New York's specialized state police units remain woefully understaffed by more than 200 officers due largely to uncompetitive pay and retirement plan. "We are extremely pleased that three of our member units recently graduated academy classes to help bolster the number of specialized police protecting New York's residents and natural resources, unfortunately, 64 officers when you need hundreds more is just not enough," said PBA of NYS president Jim McCartney. "While the addition of 26 Environmental Conservation Officers, 29 Park Police Officers, and 9 Forest Rangers might seem like a lot, it is not enough to offset the losses in personnel experienced over the past decade from the state's failure to provide a competitive compensation and retirement plan for our members. As we explained to the state legislature during budget hearings, none of our academy classes were full, and even if they were, and graduated every candidate, we would still be below authorized staffing levels for our agencies." Matt Krug, PBANYS vice-president, added, "The qualifications for Environmental Conservation Officers, Forest Rangers, and Park Police Officers are unique and stringent, making the pool of candidates we recruit from smaller than other state and local agencies. To ensure that New York State can recruit the most qualified and capable candidates it is essential that these highly specialized law enforcement roles be compensated with competitive pay and benefits including the standard 20-year retirement package offered to nearly every law enforcement officer in in the state. Otherwise, we will continue to lose candidates and highly trained officers to agencies who recognize and respect their unique capabilities and compensate accordingly." Krug further observed, "While New York has made great strides in acquiring millions of acres of land to protect and passed some of the strictest environmental laws, they have not made a similar commitment to protecting these natural resources by investing in enough Environmental Conservation Officers, Forest Rangers, and Park Police Officers." Current Environmental Conservation Officer staffing sits at 283 ECOs, with an authorized strength of 342, and there are currently 117 State Forest Ranger 1's in service while authorization exists for 129. Similarly, New York State currently has 243 Park Police Officers with a full authorized strength of 387. This translates to a total of 214 officers below authorized strength across the three units. When one considers the millions of acres of public lands, the hundreds of state historic sites and parks, and the tens of millions of visitors PBANYS members are asked to protect each year, these numbers are clearly inadequate to the task at hand and in some cases have remained unchanged for decades. It is not uncommon for there to be a single Environmental Conservation Officer or Forest Ranger on duty to cover several counties at any given time during the day. Similarly, New York's more than 250 state parks and historic sites are scattered in every corner of the state and range from Revolutionary War battlefields to large concert venues to Niagara Falls and miles of Long Island coastline. Nearly 85 million people visit these unique locations yearly and represent billions of dollars in economic activity for the state and local economies. New York State however makes scant investment in those who protect these visitors and resources. The recent deployment of 10 New York State Forest Rangers to assist California in battling its wildfires underscores the critical need for these specialized officers. New York shares many of the same conditions and concerns regarding wildfires and we cannot afford to allow vacancies to continue, union officials said, adding that state forests and the safety of countless New Yorkers depend upon a fully staffed Division of Forest Protection. McCartney continued, "Our members are increasingly asked to do more with less, and we are having a harder and harder time filling our academy classes to authorized levels due largely to the lack of a competitive 20-year retirement plan. Couple this with the physical and mental stresses of operating long hours in remote areas, responding to natural disasters and performing search and rescues in the worst and most dangerous weather conditions, it should come as no surprise that many qualified candidates choose other agencies where they are paid more, and retire earlier, while not facing the demands and dangers our members face." The PBA of New York State encouraged the State Legislature to again fight to include retirement parity for members and include the 20-year retirement in this year's state budget. "Every year that goes by without providing a 20-year retirement for our specialized police officers further erodes our abilities to properly protect the health and safety of our communities and environmental treasures," officials said in a Jan. 31 release. McCartney concluded, "Our members chose these law enforcement careers because they have a passion for the specialized missions of their agencies. Their skills, training, and experience are unparalleled. If we wish to safeguard our natural resources and protect the public who venture out to enjoy them, we need to be competitive in both recruitment and retention and that begins by providing the standard 20-year retirement for our members. What's the point in spending hundreds of thousands of state taxpayer dollars to recruit and train these officers only to force them to make the difficult choice between the agency and mission they love or their families' financial security?"

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Union: Specialized DEC, State Park units remain critically understaffed

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