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water police

{{Short description|Brown-water police patrolling in watercraft}}

{{More citations needed|date=October 2007}}

File:NYPD boat99pct.jpg 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.

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 [https://www.nasbla.org/operationdrywater/home 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.File:North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit RIB.JPG (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.{{Cite web|date=2019-10-01|title=Deck Guns: Know Your Flow|url=https://www.fireengineering.com/apparatus-equipment/deck-guns-know-your-flow/|access-date=2021-12-22|website=Fire Engineering|language=en-US}} The operators of these vessels are generally trained in many rescue disciplines including first aid, vessel dewatering,{{Cite web|title=Dewatering Control System|url=http://seapart.com/DewateringSystem.htm|access-date=2021-12-22|website=seapart.com}} 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

File:Rescue exercise RCA 2012.jpg

=Australia=

=Austria=

=Bahamas=

=Belgium=

=Bermuda=

=Canada=

=Cayman Islands=

=Finland=

=France=

=Germany=

=Ghana=

=Gibraltar=

=Greece=

  • Hellenic Coast Guard, whose full name is "Harbour Corps-Hellenic Coast Guard," was originally founded in 1919 as the "Harbour Corps" ({{langx|el|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=

  • Hong Kong Police Force Marine Region – The Marine Police patrol {{convert|1651|km2|abbr=on}} 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.{{Cite web|title=Chapter 1 History – The First Century | Hong Kong Police Force|url=https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/01_about_us/ph_01.html|access-date=2022-12-02|website=www.police.gov.hk}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.police.gov.hk/hkp-home/chinese/history/history_01.htm#b|title=香港警務處－警隊歷史}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.police.gov.hk/info/review/2009/tc/pdf/TC_E_p68.pdf|title=水警總區}} Was referred to as Water Police until 1948 when it was renamed Marine Police.

=Indonesia=

  • Indonesian National Police – Polisi Perairan (POLAIR){{Cite web | url=http://polair.polri.go.id/ | title=Polisi Perairan | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190907010420/http://polair.polri.go.id/ | archive-date=2019-09-07}}

=India=

=Ireland=

=Israel=

=Italy=

=Jamaica=

=Malaysia=

=Marshall Islands=

=Monaco=

=Netherlands=

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

=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

  • Bridgeport Police Department Marine Unit{{cite web | url=https://connecticut.news12.com/bridgeport-police-marine-unit-patrol-connecticut-waters-searching-for-dangerous-boaters | title=Bridgeport Police Marine Unit patrol Connecticut waters searching for dangerous boaters }}
  • Candlewood Lake Authority Marine Patrol{{cite web | url=https://candlewoodlakeauthority.org/CLA-Marine-Patrol | title=CLA Marine Patrol }}
  • Columbia Lake Marine Patrol{{cite web | url=https://www.columbiact.org/recreation/page/marine-patrol | title=Marine Patrol }}
  • Connecticut Environmental Conservation Police
  • Coventry Marine Patrol
  • Cromwell Police Department Marine Patrol{{cite web | url=https://www.cromwellct.com/police-department/pages/marine-patrol | title=Marine Patrol | Town of Cromwell CT }}
  • Darien Police Department Marine Division
  • Fairfield Police Department Marine Unit{{cite web | url=https://fpdct.com/divisions/special_services_bureau/marine_unit.php | title=Fairfield Police Department (Connecticut) }}
  • Greenwich Police Department Marine Operations Section, Connecticut
  • Groton City Police Department Marine Patrol{{cite web | url=https://cityofgroton.com/531/Marine-Patrol | title=Marine Patrol | Groton, CT }}
  • Lake Housatonic Authority Marine Patrol{{cite web | url=http://lakehousatonicauthority.org/patrol.html | title=Lake Housatonic Authority }}
  • Metropolitan District Commission Police Department, Connecticut
  • Middletown Police Department Marine Unit
  • Milford Police Department Marine Patrol{{cite web | url=https://www.ci.milford.ct.us/police-department/pages/marine-patrol | title=Marine Patrol | milfordct }}
  • Norwalk Police Department Marine Unit{{cite web | url=https://norwalkct.gov/435/Marine-Unit | title=Marine Unit | Norwalk, CT - Official Website }}
  • Norwich Police Department Harbor Patrol
  • Old Saybrook Police Department Marine Patrol{{cite web | url=https://www.oldsaybrookct.gov/police-services/patrol-division/slideshows/marine-patrol | title=Marine Patrol | oldsaybrookct }}
  • Stamford Police Department Harbor Unit
  • Stratford Police Department Marine Unit
  • Westbrook Police Department Marine Patrol
  • Westport Police Department Marine Division{{Cite web | url=https://www.westportct.gov/government/departments-a-z/police-department/divisions/specialized-units/marine-division | title=Law Enforcement on the Water | website=www.westportct.gov}}

; 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=

Gallery

File:Police.boat.london.arp.jpg|A Metropolitan Police launch on the River Thames in London

File:Cuxhaven polizei buergermeister brauer.jpg|Patrol boat of the Wasserschutzpolizei of Hamburg/Germany

File:CPD boat.jpg|A Chicago Police Department boat on Lake Michigan

File:Police.boat.at.poole.arp.jpg|Police boat in Poole Harbour, Dorset, England

File:Helsinki Boat Police 491 492 493.jpg|Helsinki Police Department patrol Boats 491, 192, and 493 in front of ice breaker Voima at Katajanokka, Helsinki, Finland.

File:Bay Constable On Patrol.jpg|Town of Oyster Bay constable on patrol in waters on the north shore of Long Island, NY

File:Bermuda Police Marine Section boats.jpg|Boats of the Marine Section of the Bermuda Police Service at Barr's Bay, in Hamilton, Bermuda.

File:CP 302.jpg|Italian Maritime Police Patrol boat

File:Indonesian Police Patrol Boat.jpg|Indonesian POLAIR (Marine Police) Patrol Boat

File:Consortium.jpg|Consortium, one of the vessels used by the UK's North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit

File:North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit Cheetah catamaran.JPG|A Cheetah catamaran acquired by the UK's North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit in 2012, to be used during the London Olympics

File:HK Police Department Ship No80.jpg|Hong Kong Police Force Marine Region Police Launch 80

File:TorontoPoliceMarineUnit.jpg|Toronto Police Marine Unit

File:Patrol Komisariatu Rzecznego Policji w Warszawie 01.JPG|Water police patrol boat on the Vistula river in Warsaw, Poland

File:Itsas Zain.jpg|Basque Police (Ertzaintza) Patrol boat

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category|Water police}}

  • [http://www.dyfed-powys.police.uk/en/whatwedo/marineunit/ Dyfed-Powys Police Marine Unit]
  • [http://www.hampshire.police.uk/Internet/so/operations/marine/index.htm Hampshire Police Marine Support Unit]

{{types of law enforcement agencies}}

Category:Law enforcement