Water police

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A NYPD boat on patrol in New York Harbor in 2006 NYPD boat99pct.jpg
A NYPD boat on patrol in New York Harbor in 2006

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.

Contents

Duties and functions

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 North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit RIB.JPG
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

Rescue Exercise Rescue exercise RCA 2012.jpg
Rescue Exercise

Australia

Austria

Bahamas

Belgium

Bermuda

Canada

Cayman Islands

Finland

France

Germany

Ghana

Gibralta

Greece

Hong Kong

Indonesia

India

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Jamaica

Malaysia

Marshall Islands

Monaco

Netherlands

New Zealand

Panama

Philippines

Portugal

Russia

Serbia

Singapore

Spain

Sri Lanka

South Africa

Thailand

United Kingdom

United States

Federal
District of Columbia
Alabama
Arizona
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
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

See also

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