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

Australian Federal Police Water Police
New South Wales Police Marine Area Command
Northern Territory Police Marine and Fisheries Enforcement Unit
Queensland Police Water Police
South Australia Police Water Operations Unit
Tasmania Police Marine and Rescue Services
Victoria Police Water Police Squad
Western Australia Police Water Police Branch

Canada

National
*Royal Canadian Mounted Police West Coast Marine Detachment
*
British Columbia
*Vancouver Police Department Marine Squad
*Victoria Police Department Marine Unit
Ontario
*Barrie Police Service Marine Unit
*Brockville Police Service Marine Patrol Unit
*Durham Regional Police Service Marine Unit
*Hamilton Police Service
*Halton Regional Police Marine Unit
*London Police Service Marine Patrol Unit
*Niagara Regional Police Service Marine Unit
*Ontario Provincial Police – regional Marine Units and Underwater Search and Recovery Unit
*Ottawa Police Service Marine/Underwater Unit
*Peel Regional Police Marine Unit
*Toronto Police Service Marine Unit – formed in 1982 to replace Toronto Harbour Commission Port Police and Harbour Police units.
*York Regional Police Service Marine Unit
Manitoba
*Winnipeg Police Service River Patrol and Underwater Search and Recovery Unit
Nova Scotia
*Halifax Regional Police Lake Patrol
Quebec
*Montreal City Police Service Nautical Patrol
Saskatchewan
*Regina Police Service Underwater Investigation and Recovery Team
*Saskatoon Police Service River Patrol Detail

Cayman Islands

Royal Cayman Islands Police Marine Section

Finland

Helsinki Police Department Boat Unit

France

Germany

Federal Police units embedded within the Coast Guard
Water Protection Police units of the following State Police:
*Baden-Württemberg Police
*Bavarian State Police
*Berlin Police
*Brandenburg Police
*Bremen Police
*Hamburg Police
*Hesse State Police
*Lower Saxony Police
*Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Police
*North Rhine-Westphalia Police
*Rhineland-Palatinate Police
*Saarland Police
*Saxony Police
*Saxony-Anhalt Police
*Schleswig-Holstein Police

Ghana

Marine Police Unit

Gibraltar

Gibraltar Services Police Marine Unit – a civil police force which guards and enforces law on UK Ministry of Defence installations in Gibraltar.
Royal Gibraltar Police Marine Section

Greece

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

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Police Force Marine Region – The Marine Police patrol 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. Was referred to as Water Police until 1948 when it was renamed Marine Police.

Indonesia

Indonesian National Police – ''Polisi Perairan''

India

Kerala Coastal Police, coastal security division of Kerala State Police
Coastal Security Group, coastal security wing of Tamil Nadu Police
Various coastal/marine police units of the respective State/UT police forces.

Ireland

Israel

Israeli Police Marine Police

Italy

*Corps of the Port Captaincies – Coast Guard Maritime police
*Guardia di Finanza Marine Police Section

Jamaica

Jamaica Constabulary Force Marine Division

Malaysia

Royal Malaysian Police Marine Operations Force

Marshall Islands

Kwajalein Police Department Marine Police Section

Monaco

Monaco Police Force Marine Division

Netherlands

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

New Zealand

New Zealand Police Maritime Policing Unit

Panama

National Aeronaval Service

Philippines

Portugal

Maritime Police
National Guard (Portugal)">National Guard of Russia">National Guard (Portugal) Unidade de Controlo Costeiro

Russia

Police of Russia's Water Police
Saint Petersburg Police's river police
Moscow Police's river police
FSB's Russian Coast Guard
National Guard Maritime Unit

Serbia

Police of Serbia's River Police

Singapore

Singapore Police Force Police Coast Guard

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Police Service Marine Division

South Africa

South African Police Service Water Wing

Thailand

Royal Thai Police

United Kingdom

Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Marine Operations Section
Dyfed-Powys Police Marine Unit
Dorset Police Marine Section
Essex Police Marine and Diving Unit
Hampshire Constabulary Marine Unit
Kent Police Marine Unit
Lothian and Borders Police Marine Section
Metropolitan Police Marine Policing Unit
Ministry of Defence Police Marine Unit
Norfolk Constabulary Broads policing unit by boat with support from 'Broads beat' officers on land
Northumbria Police Marine Unit
North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit
Police Scotland Dive and Marine Unit

United States

; Federal

; District of Columbia

Metropolitan Police Department of the [District of Columbia |Metropolitan Police Department] Harbor Patrol

; Alabama

Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Marine Resources In 2013 The Marine Police Division was merged into the Alabama Department of Public Safety's Marine Patrol Division

; Arizona

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Lake Patrol Division, Arizona

; California

East Bay Regional Park District Police Department Marine Patrol Unit, California
El Dorado County Sheriff's Office Boat Patrol, California
Los Angeles Port Police, Port of Los Angeles, California
Long Beach Harbor Patrol, Port of Long Beach, California
Kern County Parks and Recreation Lake Patrol, California
Marin County Sheriff's Office Marine Patrol, California
Placer County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit, California
Sacramento County Sheriff's Department Marine Enforcement Detail, California
Sacramento Police Department Marine Division, California
San Diego Harbor Police Department Public Safety Agency California
Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit, 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

Delaware Natural Resources Police, Delaware [Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control], Division of Fish and Wildlife
Delaware State Police Maritime Unit
Dover Police Department Marine Patrol Section, Delaware
Wilmington Police Department Marine Unit

; Florida

Boynton Beach Police Department Marine Patrol, Florida
Daytona Beach Police Department Marine Unit, Florida
Florida Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Park Patrol
Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Law Enforcement
Fort Lauderdale Police Department Marine Unit, Florida
Hollywood Police Department Marine Unit, Florida
Key West Police Department Marine Unit, Florida
Lake County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit, Florida
Miami-Dade Police Department Marine Patrol, Florida
North Miami Police Department Marine Patrol, Florida
North Miami Beach Police Department Marine Patrol, Florida
Orlando Police Department Marine Patrol Unit, Florida
Polk County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit, Florida
Tampa Police Department Marine Unit, Florida

; Georgia

Chatham County Police Department Marine Patrol Unit, Georgia
Georgia Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division

; Illinois

Chicago Police Department Marine Unit, Illinois
Lake County Sheriff's Office Marine Unit, Illinois

; Indiana

Lake County Sheriff's Department Marine Unit, Indiana

; Iowa

Des Moines Police Department Waterway Operations Unit, Iowa

; Kentucky

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources Water Patrol

; Louisiana

Levee District Police, Louisiana
Port of New Orleans Harbor Police Department Patrol Boat Division, 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