State looking to hire peace officers to join Fish and Wildlife ranks

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is recruiting current peace officers who are interested in a career as a wildlife officer.

“We are particularly interested in recruiting applicants with a passion for conservation of California’s fish and wildlife resources,” said CDFW Law Enforcement Division Chief David Bess.

The CDFW Law Enforcement Division expects an overwhelming number of inquiries and asks prospective candidates to extensively review materials on the website before contacting CDFW with questions.

You can find out more about law enforcement careers with CDFW, by visiting the CDFW Fish and Wildlife Officer web page. Interested individuals can view the official job bulletin which contains detailed information on how to apply.

Applications are open only to those who have:

Successfully completed a California POST accredited Law Enforcement Academy, possess a valid California POST basic peace officer certificate, and are currently employed as a peace officer within the State of California at time of application; or, Successfully completed (within the last 12 months) the CDFW Law Enforcement Academy, and possess a valid California POST basic academy certificate.

Applications must be postmarked by June 26.

Those who are not currently working as a peace officer but are interested in a career as a wildlife officer may apply to attend the full 31-week Wildlife Officer Academy as a Wildlife Officer Cadet. The application period for the Academy is expected to open in September or October.

California wildlife officers are charged with ensuring public safety, enforcing fish and wildlife laws, investigating illegal sales of wildlife, protecting the state from pollution, enforcing habitat protection laws, fighting illegal drug trafficking, keeping the homeland secure and responding during natural disasters. As peace officers, they have the authority to enforce all California laws, such as the Vehicle Code and Penal Code, and are federally deputized to enforce federal fish and wildlife laws.

A typical day for a California wildlife officer is as diverse as the state’s fish and wildlife. Wildlife officers patrol ocean, desert, mountain and valley environments, as well as urban areas. They frequently work independently and conduct full-scale law enforcement investigations. Wildlife officers employ everything from all-terrain vehicles to jet skis and snowmobiles while on patrol and spend much of their typical day making contact with Californians in the outdoors.

CDFW has a dive team and utilizes K-9 partners as well. Environmental crimes and pollution incidents also fall under the purview of wildlife officers.

Annually, wildlife officers make contact with more than 295,000 people and issue more than 15,000 citations for violations of the law.