MARYLAND Lay se, Serer DEPARTMENT OF Boyd Rutherford, Lt. Governor JATURAL RESOURCES Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, Secretary August 27, 2019 ‘The Honorable David Fraser-Hidalgo 223 House Office Building 6 Bladen Street Annapolis, MD 21401 Dear Delegate Fraset-Hidalgo ‘Thank you for your letter dated Aug. 19, 2019 regarding recent law enforcement activity in Montgomery County. Secretary Haddaway-Riccio received your letter and asked me to respond on her behalf in my capacity as Acting Superintendent of the Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) On Aug. 7, 2019, an NRP officer responded to a call from a citizen about an unlicensed tree trimmer taking down a tree at 11701 Rocking Horse Road in Rockville. Upon arrival, the officer determined the individual was unlicensed, in violation of §5-415 (definition of a tree expert includes someone in the business of tree removal), and §5-417 (requiring tree experts be licensed) of the Natural Resources Article. The officer ran a wanted check, which is standard practice related to officer safety. The check came back positive for an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) administrative warrant for deportation. The NNRP communications center contacted ICE to confirm the warrant was active, which is standard protocol for any positive hit on a warrant. ICE confirmed the warrant was active, and advised they would respond to the scene to {ake custody of the individual. The person was detained by NRP until ICE arrived and took custody of the individual, NRP policy when cooperating with ICE is the same policy for working with all other levels of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. During stops related to natural resource violations, officers check to see if the stopped individual(s) have an outstanding local, state or federal warrant. This is the same protocol across law enforcement agencies in the State, including the Maryland State Police (MSP), When it comes to ICE, NRP and MSP do not act on detainers as a matter of policy, Both law enforcement entities only act on active warrants. In this particular ease, the ICE warrant identified by NRP was an administrative warrant. As MSP has already adopted a policy of not executing administrative warrants, NRP is revising its policies and procedures to be consistent with MSP, and to act only on judicial warrants. All NRP officers will be educated on the revised policy to ensure fall compliance. Tawes State Office Building — 580 Taylor Avenue ~ Annapolis, Maryland 22402 420-260-8DNR or tol free in Maryland 877-620-8DNR ~ dr. maryland. gov—TTY Users Call via the Maryland RelayThe Honorable David Fraser-Hidalgo Page Two Thank you again for your letter and please do not hesitate to reach out with any additional questions. Sincerely, fn lccau Acting Superintendent Maryland Natural Resources Police cc: The Honorable Joseline A. Pena-Melnyk The Honorable Gabriel Acevero Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio, Secretary, Department of Natural Resources James McKitrick, Legislative Director, Department of Natural Resources