Senior Department of the Green Police

The Green Police is the main enforcement and deterrence arm of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The Green Police's main role is to enforce environmental laws, regulations, and decrees. The Green Police inspectors perform acts of supervision and enforcement.

The Green Police enforce environmental laws on three levels:

• National: The Green Police take part in setting Ministry of Environmental Policy (MoEP) policy, writing national legislation and regulations, and setting national and regional goals. They also conduct national enforcement operations to deal with environmental violations.
• Regional: The Green Police work with the MoEP's district offices to maintain environmental protection.
• Local: Green Police officers and inspectors work with local agencies and entities such as the Israel National Parks Authority, the Israel Lands Authority, the Interior Ministry, environmental units, and local authorities, in order to enforce environmental laws.

The Green Police's roles

• Supervision – patrols according to a regulated plan in the field cell that the inspector is responsible for, locating environmental hazards, monitoring environmental hazards and accompanying hazards that the district is in charge of treating.
• Environmental enforcement – the administrative enforcement is conducted by the ministry's districts and departments; the criminal enforcement is conducted by the Green Police and includes private operations by the inspectors, team operations and national operations, such as:
• Enforcing environmental hazards subject to the authorities that were given to the Green Police concerning the matters of cleanliness and waste, sewage, air quality, hazardous substances, etc.
• The exclusive enforcement of unique hazards such as supervising asbestos hazards, the Deposit Law and signage crimes.
• Supervising cleanliness decrees that are implemented by a ministry appointed contractor.
• Conducting enforcement operations including collecting evidence (by means of documenting, photographing and collection information from the field) and accompanying the treatment of environmental criminals until they face trials.
• Managing case files – enforcement by means of managing criminal case files. The unit's inspectors are certified to conduct investigations according to the Criminal (testimonial) Procedure Command and accompany treating the case files since discovering the hazard, managing the investigation process until submitting the file for a charge.
• Fines – the Green Police inspectors are certified to relay fine payment messages according to several trial decrees at prices between 250 and 8000 shekels, in accordance with the essence of the crime, the crime doer and the location of the crime.
• Obtaining tools that were used for environmental crimes – as a part of the enforcement activities in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Section, they obtain tools that were used for environmental crimes, the driver was investigated and a case file was created.
• Vehicular pollution – the Green Police operates four patrol vehicles that test vehicular air pollution, and are operated by designated inspectors and vehicular air pollution testers from the Environmental Protection Section of the Israel Police. Vehicle owners who pollute should expect to receive a use prohibition notice and a fine.
• Cooperations of the Green Police with additional entities such as: municipalities, regional and local councils, associations, environmental units, the Israel Police, the Nature and Parks Authority, Green Patrol, the Israel Land Administration.