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.

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, 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. 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 or rescue outcomes. In the United States, some states have combined the duties of water police with those of conservation officers or state police.
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. The operators of these vessels are generally trained in many rescue disciplines including first aid, vessel dewatering, 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

Australia

; Federal
; District of Columbia
; Alabama
; Arizona
; California
; Connecticut
  • Bridgeport Police Department Marine Unit
  • Candlewood Lake Authority Marine Patrol
  • Columbia Lake Marine Patrol
  • Connecticut Environmental Conservation Police
  • Coventry Marine Patrol
  • Cromwell Police Department Marine Patrol
  • Darien Police Department Marine Division
  • Fairfield Police Department Marine Unit
  • Greenwich Police Department Marine Operations Section, Connecticut
  • Groton City Police Department Marine Patrol
  • Lake Housatonic Authority Marine Patrol
  • Metropolitan District Commission Police Department, Connecticut
  • Middletown Police Department Marine Unit
  • Milford Police Department Marine Patrol
  • Norwalk Police Department Marine Unit
  • Norwich Police Department Harbor Patrol
  • Old Saybrook Police Department Marine Patrol
  • Stamford Police Department Harbor Unit
  • Stratford Police Department Marine Unit
  • Westbrook Police Department Marine Patrol
  • Westport Police Department Marine Division
; 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