HONOLULU — Beginning next year, DOCARE officers have a complement of new uniforms that better reflect their duties and responsibilities protecting and enforcing Hawaii’s natural and cultural resource laws.
All versions of the new uniform include green BDU (Battle Dress Uniform), cargo-style pants. In the field, officers will wear tan polo shirts, with a subdued emblem patch on one shoulder (incorporating the State seal), and “Conservation Police-Dept. of Land and Natural Resources,” stamped on the back.
For formal occasions, like ceremonies or court appearances, officers now have a button-down, long-sleeve shirt with a black tie and a short-sleeve shirt with epaulets, but no necktie. Both the long-sleeve and short-sleeve shirts have colored DOCARE patches on their shoulders.
“DOCARE was formed 40 years ago at a time when five different DLNR divisions had their own law enforcement officers,” recalled DOCARE Enforcement Chief Jason Redulla.
Only one of those divisions, Fish &Game &Forestry (now the Division of Forestry and Wildlife or DOFAW) had officers statewide. Today’s DOCARE is a statewide law enforcement organization with more than 100 certified officers who have full police powers, in addition to their duties to enforce an immense set of resource laws, rules, and regulations on land and in the ocean.
DOCARE maintains a statewide reporting hotline as well as a free reporting application for people to report violations. The hotline from any island is 643-DLNR (3567). The free, downloadable DLNRTip app can be found on iTunes or Google Play.