July 8, 2004

Contact: Ian Michaels (718) 595-6600

Public Meeting at DEP Police 6th Precinct in Yorktown Heights

Commissioner Christopher O. Ward of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced today that the DEP will hold a public meeting at the DEP Police’s 6th Precinct in Yorktown Heights, at 900 Croton Lake Rd (Route 129), on July 15 at 11:00 A.M.

“This is a great chance for Westchester residents to become more familiar with the DEP Police, our mission and our people,” said Commissioner Ward. “At the same time, we welcome the opportunity to learn more about the concerns of local residents and ways that we can serve them better. There is no overriding agenda for the meeting – the purpose is to get to know the local people who the DEP Police are sworn to protect, and to help them get to know us.”

DEP Police Chief Ed Welch will be on hand, as will representatives from the Detective Bureau, Intelligence Division, Canine Unit, Emergency Services Unit, Scuba Unit and Special Operations Division assigned to the 6th Precinct in Yorktown Heights.

The DEP Police has over 200 environmental police officers serving in New York City and nine watershed counties. Charged primarily with protecting the water supply that nine million New Yorkers rely on every day, the DEP Police also supplement local police agencies in their day-to-day activities of community service and public protection.

In 2003 alone, DEP Police were called upon over 250 times to assist other police agencies in the City’s watershed. They also responded to over 300 traffic accidents and aided in 97 incidents where medical assistance was necessary. This was in addition to almost 700 environmental complaints they investigated while performing their main duties of protecting the water supply that half the state depends on every day.

DEP Police at the Yorktown Heights precinct help to protect the City’s Croton water system in Westchester and Putnam Counties. Originally put into service with the Old Croton Aqueduct in 1842, the Croton system provides New York City with around 10 percent of its daily water supply of 1.1 billion gallons. The system is comprised of twelve reservoirs and controlled lakes, the most recent of which was completed in 1911.