December 5 2003

Contact: Ian Michaels (718) 595-6600

New DEP Police Precinct Opens In Olive

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today marked the opening of the Department’s new police precinct stationhouse in Olive with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new building on Route 28A near the headworks of the Ashokan Reservoir.

Continuing its partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers following security threats related to the September 11th attacks, the Corps performed the bulk of the design work for the new building and acted as construction manager for the project.

“The new precinct at Olive will allow us to better serve the region and to react more quickly to any threats to the water supply,” said Commissioner Ward. “We also work closely with local law enforcement agencies throughout the watershed to supplement the important work they do. We look forward to our continued cooperation with Ulster County officials to maintain a safe, secure and clean environment.”

The Department of Environmental Protection will hold a Community Day at the precinct on December 6 from 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Refreshments will be served as local residents get to meet officers and members of the DEP Division of Environmental Police. Representatives from the police canine unit, emergency services unit, scuba unit and detective bureau will be on hand to answer questions and provide information about the unique mission of “environmental policing.”

The new $4.2 million, one-story, brick precinct stationhouse will house the DEP Police West of Hudson Command Center and the Environmental Enforcement Division’s 4th Precinct, including the Detective Bureau, the Emergency Services Unit and Strategic Patrol. Approximately 26 environmental police officers and one civilian staff member will be assigned to the building, which will be manned 24-hours-a-day.

Olive is the second of five new police precinct stationhouses the DEP is dedicating. Last month a new precinct house was dedicated in Grahamsville in Sullivan County. Other facilities are scheduled to open soon in Beerston, Gilboa and Downsville.

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.