VI Government Agencies Urged to Address Enforcement Officer Shortfall

Senator Kenneth Gittens has urged several agencies to intensify their recruitment efforts to bolster their enforcement divisions, a decision made during a Senate hearing Tuesday following an in-depth review of agency operations.

Mr. Gittens, chair of the Committee on Homeland Security, Justice and Public Safety, was perturbed by low staffing numbers and encouraged each agency head to plan for the upcoming fiscal year with those considerations in mind.

“For the next budget cycle, we expect to see requests so that we can hire people,” he told representatives of the Taxicab Commission, the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs, and the Department of Health.

Probing by committee members revealed that each unit was severely understaffed, which representatives said occasionally results in the inability to ensure maximum compliance within their respective jurisdictions.