NOAA's Law Enforcement Behaving Badly

[Geee]

American Thinker:




Almost every one of the 172 law enforcement officers of The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Fisheries Service has a take-home vehicle, sort of but not exactly a perk. The cars are not part of the job description; they are a derived benefit, bought and paid for by the monies gathered by punishing fishermen.

Does NOAA's OLE (Office of Law Enforcement) policy allow take-home cars? Not exactly. To be precise, there is no policy. Does NOAA's OLE policy permit the purchase of vehicles outright? No; policy is to lease or rent. How then were they allowed to buy some 200 cars ($4.6M)? Lack of adult supervision.

The people we count on to protect our industry, preserve our environment, and manage our fisheries cannot even manage themselves.

OLE policy does not permit vessel purchases, but OLE has purchased 22 vessels at a cost of $2.7M using funds from fines and seizures. The vessels are used for random boardings of working fishing boats. Probable cause? How quaint.

International travel? Nice work if you can get it. Fishermen's fines paid for some $600K of international travel expenses, $500K of which was not covered by NOAA's OLE policy.