Connecticut Environmental Conservation Police Promote Two to Sgt.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Environmental Conservation (EnCon) Police have promoted two officers to the rank of Sergeant.
 
The two are:
 
·         Officer Todd Chemacki of Madison
·         Officer Stephen Stanko of East Hampton
 
Sgt. Todd Chemacki
 
Sgt. Chemacki is being assigned to the central sector of the Marine District.  He has been an EnCon officer for more than 16 years and had previously worked in DEEP’s Emergency Dispatch center and in the State Parks Division. 
 
Sgt. Chemacki has been the recipient of several department awards, including Officer of the Year in 2004, Award for Meritorious Service and Medal for Life Saving.  He is also an active member in the department’s Chemical Immobilization and Hunting Related Shooting Incident Teams.
 
Sgt. Stephen Stanko
 
Sgt. Stanko is being assigned to the western sector of the Marine District.  He has been an EnCon officer for more than eight years and prior to that spent eight years as a local police officer first in East Hampton and then in Middletown.
 
Sgt. Stanko has been the recipient of many department awards, including Officer of the Year in 2010, Boating Officer of the Year in 2011, Medals for Outstanding Service and Medals for Life Saving.  He is currently a Field Training Officer and an active member in the department’s Chemical Immobilization and Hunting Related Shooting Incident Teams.
 
“Our Environmental Conservation Police are a highly regarded division of this agency that plays a critical role in both protecting this state’s environment and natural resources and in law enforcement,” said DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee.  “Our two new Sergeants are dedicated and highly motivated members of our EnCon Police force and we congratulate them on their promotions.”
 
 
Background on EnCon Police
 
Tracing its roots back to “Special Game Protectors” first appointed in 1895, DEEP’s Environmental Conservation Police Division is the oldest law enforcement organization in the state.  EnCon officers are fully certified law enforcement officials with full arrest powers. In addition to traditional law enforcement duties on state lands and in state parks, they have special responsibilities for protecting Connecticut’s natural resources and wildlife and enforcing fish and game regulations.
 
 

 

Ivory Trafficking Thrives in Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of the largest ivory smuggling hubs in the world, with 8 tonnes of smuggled ivory seized in 2013 alone, according to the WWF. The Chinese territory has outlawed the import and export of African elephant tusks since the ban took effect in 1990, but shops are allowed to sell ivory products acquired before the ban. The trade of tusks from extinct mammoth is unregulated.

Reporting by the Associated Press.

See the story and photos here

Connecticut’s Environmental Conservation Police (EnCon) Make Drug Arrest at Hopeville Pond State Park

Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Environmental Conservation Police (EnCon) said that Timothy D. Clohecy, DOB 10/21/1976, was arrested at Hopeville Pond State Park, Griswold, on Saturday evening (October 24) for possession of one kilogram of marijuana and other controlled substances.  Clohecy lives at 19 Brickyard Road, Preston.
 
An EnCon officer on routine patrol shortly before 8 p.m. saw a motor vehicle in the parking lot after hours and investigated.  The investigation resulted in the arrest of Clohecy and seizure of $6,000 in cash and a Nissan Altima. 
 
Clohecy was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, possession with intent to sell, possession of a controlled substance and violating hours of operation in a state park.  The continuing investigation of this case may lead to other charges, according to EnCon Police.  Bond was set at $100,000.  Clohecy is scheduled to appear in Norwich court on Wednesday, October 28.