Wikipedia

Water police

Water police, also called bay constables, coastal police, harbor patrols, marine/maritime police/patrol, nautical patrols, port police, or river police are a specialty law enforcement portion of a larger police organization, who patrol in water craft. Their patrol areas may include coastal tidal waters, rivers, estuaries, harbors, lakes, canals or a combination of these.

A NYPD boat on patrol in New York Harbor in 2006

Duties and functions

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Water police are usually responsible for ensuring the safety of water users, enforcing laws relating to water traffic, preventing crime on vessels, banks and shores, providing search and rescue services (either as the main provider or as an initial response unit before more specialized units arrive), and allowing land-based police to reach locations not easily accessible. They may also be responsible for coastal security, environmental law enforcement, immigration and smuggling interdiction, and diving operations (although many police organizations have separate units to handle this). Their operations may coordinate with other agencies with similar assets such as in the United States the various Federal, State or Local authorities may work together to promote or achieve similar enforcement or rescue outcomes. In the United States, some states have combined the duties of water police with those of conservation officers or state police.

 
A rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) used by the UK's North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit. It is marked as both POLICE and HEDDLU, as it operates in both England and Wales

Equipment used ranges from personal water craft and inflatable boats to large seagoing craft, but most police vessels are small to medium, fast motorboats. In some areas these vessels incorporate a firefighting capability through a fixed deck nozzle.[1] The operators of these vessels are generally trained in many rescue disciplines including first aid, vessel dewatering,[2] and firefighting. They may also be trained as divers for rescue and recovery and as boat operators who may engage in towing operations.

List of water police units

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Rescue Exercise

Australia

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Austria

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Bahamas

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Belgium

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Bermuda

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Canada

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Cayman Islands

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Finland

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France

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Germany

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Ghana

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Gibraltar

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Greece

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  • Hellenic Coast Guard, whose full name is "Harbour Corps-Hellenic Coast Guard," was originally founded in 1919 as the "Harbour Corps" (Greek: Λιμενικό Σώμα) to act as Greece's maritime and harbour police. It still performs this role, and it is often referred to as the "Harbour [Corps]" (Λιμενικό) in everyday Greek parlance.

Hong Kong

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  • Hong Kong Police Force Marine Region – The Marine Police patrol 1,651 km2 (637 sq mi) of waters within the territory of Hong Kong, including 263 islands. The Marine Region with about 3,000 officers, and a fleet of 143 in total, made up of 71 launches and 72 craft is the largest of any civil police force.[3][4][5] Was referred to as Water Police until 1948 when it was renamed Marine Police.

Indonesia

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India

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Ireland

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Israel

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Italy

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Jamaica

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Malaysia

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Marshall Islands

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Monaco

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Netherlands

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  • Dienst Waterpolitie, water police force, a subdivision of the "Landelijke Eenheid" (LE), the nationwide unit.

New Zealand

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Panama

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Philippines

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Portugal

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Russia

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Serbia

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Singapore

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Spain

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Sri Lanka

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South Africa

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Thailand

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United Kingdom

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United States

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Federal
District of Columbia
Alabama
Arizona
California
Connecticut
  • Bridgeport Police Department Marine Unit[7]
  • Candlewood Lake Authority Marine Patrol[8]
  • Columbia Lake Marine Patrol[9]
  • Connecticut Environmental Conservation Police
  • Coventry Marine Patrol
  • Cromwell Police Department Marine Patrol[10]
  • Darien Police Department Marine Division
  • Fairfield Police Department Marine Unit[11]
  • Greenwich Police Department Marine Operations Section, Connecticut
  • Groton City Police Department Marine Patrol[12]
  • Lake Housatonic Authority Marine Patrol[13]
  • Metropolitan District Commission Police Department, Connecticut
  • Middletown Police Department Marine Unit
  • Milford Police Department Marine Patrol[14]
  • Norwalk Police Department Marine Unit[15]
  • Norwich Police Department Harbor Patrol
  • Old Saybrook Police Department Marine Patrol[16]
  • Stamford Police Department Harbor Unit
  • Stratford Police Department Marine Unit
  • Westbrook Police Department Marine Patrol
  • Westport Police Department Marine Division[17]
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
  • Cumberland County Sheriff's Office Marine Patrol, conducts seasonal patrols on Sebago Lake
  • Brunswick Police Department Marine Resources Unit
  • Biddeford & Saco Harbor Patrol, a joint patrol between the Biddeford Police Department and Saco Police Department
  • Falmouth Police Department, Marine Unit
  • Maine Marine Patrol, Maine Department of Marine Resources
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin
Multistate

Vietnam

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Deck Guns: Know Your Flow". Fire Engineering. 2019-10-01. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
  2. ^ "Dewatering Control System". seapart.com. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
  3. ^ "Chapter 1 History – The First Century | Hong Kong Police Force". www.police.gov.hk. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
  4. ^ "香港警務處－警隊歷史".
  5. ^ "水警總區" (PDF).
  6. ^ "Polisi Perairan". Archived from the original on 2019-09-07.
  7. ^ "Bridgeport Police Marine Unit patrol Connecticut waters searching for dangerous boaters".
  8. ^ "CLA Marine Patrol".
  9. ^ "Marine Patrol".
  10. ^ "Marine Patrol | Town of Cromwell CT".
  11. ^ "Fairfield Police Department (Connecticut)".
  12. ^ "Marine Patrol | Groton, CT".
  13. ^ "Lake Housatonic Authority".
  14. ^ "Marine Patrol | milfordct".
  15. ^ "Marine Unit | Norwalk, CT - Official Website".
  16. ^ "Marine Patrol | oldsaybrookct".
  17. ^ "Law Enforcement on the Water". www.westportct.gov.
  18. ^ "Marine Patrol | Ludington, MI – Official Website".
  19. ^ "CỤC CẢNH SÁT GIAO THÔNG | | Cục cảnh sát giao thông".
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