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Field Operations

Overview:

Field Operations consists of two bureaus within the Division of Law Enforcement that are divided into a North and South Operations. The Bureau of North Operations contains the Northeast, Northwest and North Central Regions. The Bureau of South Operations contains the Southwest, South and the SEA (Special Enforcement Area). These Bureaus house most of the uniform patrol functions within the Division as they relate to wildlife, saltwater fish, and freshwater fish resources. The uniform patrol functions are designed to provide law enforcement protection to the natural and human resources of the state. The Bureaus contain 902 positions, 722 of which are sworn positions, which are organized in military rank structure.

Officers' Authority

Sworn personnel are fully constituted police officers as provided under Florida Statute 372.07. This gives them the authority to enforce all laws of the state, not just those relating to resource enforcement. Our officers are also cross-deputized to enforce federal fisheries and wildlife laws.

Officers' Responsibilities

1. Provide protection and enforce laws relating to all wild animal and aquatic resources of the state. This includes game, non-game, furbearers, threatened and endangered wildlife and fish, and marine mammals; encompassing approximately 672 species of wildlife, 208 species of freshwater fish and over 500 saltwater fish species. In doing so, officers patrol over 37 million acres of public and private land, 8,246 miles of tidal coastline, 12,000 miles of rivers and streams, 3,000,000 acres of lakes and ponds, and 11,000 miles of canals.
2. Provide boating safety enforcement on the state's waters in order to ensure the safe usage of our resources. Includes enforcing boating under the influence laws, as well as laws relating to the safe and prudent operation of watercraft, investigating boating accidents, and search and rescue missions.
3. Provide general law enforcement protection to the human resources of the state. One aspect of this is providing general law enforcement patrol in rural, semi-wilderness, wilderness, and offshore areas where no other law enforcement agencies routinely patrol. Officers also respond to a variety of emergencies including natural disasters, civil disturbances, and search and rescue missions. These include such diverse phenomenon’s as hurricanes, riots, wildfires, floods, and providing protection for elected officials (governors and presidents).

Special Sections:

Investigations Section

This section gives the Division the capability of conducting both overt (uniform) and covert (plainclothes) investigations. This unit allows us to target hard-core commercial violators by conducting long-term undercover investigations. This unit also provides direct support to the field personnel and has the primary responsibility for the investigation of serious and fatal boating and hunting accidents. Investigation’s is also responsible for the regulation of Florida's multi-million dollar wildlife trade. Investigators monitor zoos, game farms, wildlife importers, alligator farms, venomous reptile dealers, personal wildlife owners, pet shops, hunting preserves, wildlife rehabilitation centers, taxidermists, and falconers to ensure compliance with state and federal laws governing their operations. Investigators monitor zoos, game farms, wildlife importers, alligator farms, venomous reptile dealers, personal wildlife owners, pet shops, hunting preserves, wildlife rehabilitation centers, taxidermists, and falconers to ensure compliance with state and federal laws governing their operations. They average 5000 inspections per year and in 2003, made 554 arrests/warnings. They also seized 130 illegally possessed specimens of fish and wildlife including a cougar, tigers, leopards, primates, exotic deer, venomous reptiles, protected birds and exotic aquatic species. Inspectors investigated reports of 55 exotic animal escapes and responded to 276 Wildlife Alert complaints in 2003.

K-9 Section

This Section includes 13 K-9 teams distributed throughout the state. These units are specially trained in tracking and wildlife detection. The K-9s receive no aggression training and are very user friendly. In addition to their law enforcement functions, they have proven to be a great community oriented policing relations tool. This is the premier resource enforcement K-9 unit in the country.

Off-Shore Patrol

The Division operates four large offshore patrol vessels, the Orion, the J.J. Brown, the Randall, and the Guardian, which are stationed in Key West, Carrabelle, Port Canaveral, and Crystal River respectively. These vessels concentrate on large offshore fisheries such as the Tortugas Shrimp Sanctuary, Pelagic Fish, and fish trap enforcement. The crew on these boats often conducts extended patrols that last several days. Much of their work involves federal fisheries enforcement, which is important commerce in our state. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council regulates fishing west and north of Key West, and the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council regulates fishing in Atlantic waters, including Florida, Georgia, and South and North Carolina. Federal waters are know as the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and extend from state waters out 200 nautical miles from the outermost point in the United States.

Aviation Section

The FWC Aviation Section plays a vital role in the agency's effort to enforce conservation and boating laws, protect rare species, and safeguard outdoor users. Aviation Section pilots operate a fleet of 13 aircraft, 6 helicopters and 7 airplanes which conduct a wide variety of missions.

Aircraft are especially valuable in enforcement efforts related to the illegal taking of wildlife at night, limitations on the use of nets and promoting boating safety. The Aviation Section performs many Search and Rescue missions annually, locating lost or overdue outdoor users. Aviation Section pilots provide flights in support of other Divisions within the FWC. The Section also cooperates with state, federal and local law enforcement entities, providing flights in support of public safety and homeland security issues.

FWC pilots cover over 74,000 square miles of Florida's lands and waters. This averages around 4,300 square miles per pilot to enforce the natural resource and boating safety laws of the state. With the vast acreage of Wildlife Management Areas, National Forests, and remote coastlines the aircraft act as force multipliers by directing limited ground resources to contacts on the water or in the wilderness areas. In addition to state lands and waters, the FWC has joint law enforcement responsibility with several federal agencies over the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) out 200 nautical miles from Florida's coastline, or over 100,000 square miles of blue water.

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Last Updated December 06, 2007