Many years ago, when I first landed in Florida from NYC, just about every police agency I researched included “Swim Test” among their basic requirements for eligibility as a law enforcement officer. It follows, that public safety entities in the Sunshine State employ a marine unit to patrol its waterways, ensure boating safety, and deploy for search-and-rescue operations at sea.
Since Florida is almost an island, with coastal waters lapping up against a significant portion of its geographical fringe, a bevy of beaches welcoming swimmers, and boaters easing their vessels into the water at nearby launch sites, it makes every bit of sense for respective law enforcement organizations to manifest a marine unit.
A new marine unit was recently floated by the New Smyrna Beach Police Department (NSBPD) in Volusia County, whose shoreline is drenched by Atlantic Ocean vastness, its Intracoastal waterways branching into canals where boat docks moor crafts and marinas store hulls of varying sizes.
Although the city’s name is New Smyrna Beach, the municipal government is far from new; it has been around for quite a while: “The area was first settled by Europeans in 1768,” according to Wiki research, and now claims a population of roughly 30,142 (2020 Census).
One glaring thing was pinned on New Smyrna Beach in 2012: It garnered notoriety as “The Shark Bite Capital of the World.”
Nevertheless, the coastal city is a mecca for worshippers of the beach and sensational surf, hence a police marine unit is now afloat, working in tandem with the pre-existing waterway coverage/patrols of the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office deputies who comprise its Marine Unit.
(Photo courtesy of the New Smyrna Beach Police Department.)
A New Smyrna Beach PD press release read as follows: “With the upcoming launch of our Marine Unit this summer, our two selected officers and their supervisor have been busy learning the ins and outs of maritime law enforcement.
“With a special thank you to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, Officer Destiny Smith, Officer Gordy VanDusen, and Sergeant Billy Helms were able to hit the water this week with the VSO Marine Unit for training.”
Police Startups
Like any specialized law enforcement contingent and the personnel required to staff it for success, agency executives revisit employee files and sift out pertinent qualities and skills to fill roles. Making it easy, the police agency background investigators are go-to people who typically know who has certain fortes in any given realm, since these sworn LEOs serve as sleuths in the mission of vetting the finest candidates for consideration.
When my police department launched its Marine Unit back in the day, it was our background investigators who noted which employees possessed the requisite skills and acumen in boating and general maritime wherewithal.
The pre-determined names of potential marine unit officers were provided to police administration. However, the city charter mandated that any given law enforcement role be opened to all sworn staff, equating to competition. Let’s face it, though: Candidates with boating know-how and endowed experience make for convincing factors among any pool of applicants, thus securing the helms of the agency’s marine fleet.
It is likely how New Smyrna Beach police executives homed in on select officers to staff their newly established Marine Unit.
With that, trials and training are the next logical steps…
Whether heavily experienced or not, maritime specifications set forth by the United States Coast Guard are studied by selected Marine Unit officers, for which written examinations are administered to instill/gauge knowledge of maritime laws, the rules and regulations with which boaters must comply, waterway markers’ identification and what they intend, and search-and-rescue operations—essentially, all things waterborne.
Aside from the academics, boating practicals are key ingredients in safely piloting a vessel on an always swirling surface that necessitates chronic navigational adjustments.
‘Boat College’
The United States Coast Guard operates a Boat College, instructing would-be marine unit officers and the like in the ways of the water, largely teaching maneuvers and dynamics to preclude disasters while also educating rescuers in the methods to mitigate waterborne issues.
Recently in Tampa Bay waters, the regional US Coast Guard station in Clearwater, Florida, helmed the blackboard and trained a cadre of US Marines from the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion in “Man overboard!” concepts.
(Photo courtesy of the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion.)
“Marines from Delta Company attend a boat college hosted by PSU-307, a U.S. Coast Guard unit based in Clearwater, FL. This training allows the Marines to strengthen their capabilities and learn new skills on and off the water. Delta Company is transitioning from an AAV company to a Littoral Craft Company (LCC).
“The boat college allows Marines to learn how to maintain safety, maneuvering on the water, reading and charting oceanic graphs, and much more.
“In the photos, the Marines are practicing man overboard drills. The buoys were utilized to simulate a person in the water.”
As alluded to above, the county-level law enforcement agency, whose Marine Unit is well established, provides highly skilled deputies (mutual aid pacts) to train and score performances of New Smyrna Beach PD selectees.
(Photo courtesy of the New Smyrna Beach Police Department.)
For hours across several days, the mixed badges hit the waterways and conduct mock drills, measuring the effectiveness and quick-thinking abilities of new Marine Unit cops.
Mind you, these newly assigned maritime cops, already trained in DUI investigations, now must adapt street patrol drunk-driver investigations conducted on stable ground to BUI (Boating Under the Influence) investigations upon a constantly moving body of water (and its inherent imperils).
Roping off with one another over fathoms of water, experienced marine officers training newly certified ones lecture on the fine points, go over strengths and weaknesses, proverbial dos and don’ts, pitch waterborne scenarios, analyze answers from new captains and copilots, and influence critical thinking during catastrophic realms—like a police academy for maritime cops…mostly on water.
(Photo courtesy of the New Smyrna Beach Police Department.)
If you are wondering Why start a marine unit now, in a historically established city? Your critical thinking skills are not tied off but teed up.
Given that the county sheriff’s office is already out there, along with state police agencies such as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and its certified marine officers operating waterborne vessels, the thought of necessity arises.
(Photo courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.)
The intersection of Florida’s burgeoning population necessitating more law enforcement officers translates to some newcomers gravitating to water, whether with boats or jet skis, engendering increased presence/patrols by marine officers.
It was a local law enforcement agency (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office) whose marine officer courageously chased down an errant speedboat after its owner went overboard, leaving the vessel void of life and full of power destined for destruction upon contact with the first fixed object (city skyline came in focus).
Thankfully, hugely trained marine officers took the challenge of chasing down and stopping a runway boat…like a cowboy lassos a bucking bronco (even the rope bit at the end). Take that, James Bond!
Often supplemented by US Coast Guard crafts and personnel (as seen in that brief at-sea footage of a deputy reeling in a powerboat better than 007), maritime law enforcement continues to be present to respond to situations involving people on waterways and signals of distress.
The same conditions were in place when my agency decided on a startup of our Marine Unit. The key element for us was proudly providing the service to our residents/visitors, offering localized boating safety courses (which bolsters community relations), and the city council supporting the addition (allocating startup costs and earmarking funds toward the annual police budget).
An unanticipated bonus was the regional US Coast Guard contingent hearing about our Marine Unit aspirations, offering us our first vessel, tuned up and ready to go, in gratis. They learned of our maritime mission when our selectees were registered and attended their requisite maritime officer training courses—like studying for a road test in a car, except with maritime laws to boot.
The introduction of our then-new Marine Unit was met with much fanfare. After all, the risks of being on waterways and the inherent dangers that go along with a fluid playing field constitute the presence of law enforcement officers to skillfully conduct rescue operations while more routinely ensuring everyone is boating safely and taking every precaution prescribed by law and common sense.
As a police intern in college many moons ago, I was granted the option to accompany the department’s Marine Unit officers on the weekends, when the jurisdiction’s river hosted many boaters. In my observations: Only a few who had a troubled past and interactions with cops seemed unsettled (checking for mandatory safety equipment, etc.). By and large, citizens out on the water were elated that we were present, some pointing out which boats they felt were not observing maritime laws and drinking alcoholic beverages.
I imagine the New Smyrna Beach PD’s newly launched Marine Unit cops will be fathomed well: “Together, we are optimistic that our units will make a significant, positive impact to protect our waterways and boaters!”
