Getting out on coastal waters always allows for a view of a town that one cannot get from shore.
Being out on the Housatonic River and Long Island Sound with Stratford Police on July 11 revealed an uncommon perspective on the town and its water patrol duties — local police are an active part of the nation’s anti-terrorism effort.
Stratford PD’s Marine 1 custom-designed law enforcement vessel is large at 36 feet and strong with twin 300-horsepower engines. It travels fast, up to almost 50 mph, and smoothly. The officer at the helm, Joe Maida, was quick to point out that the hefty cost of the boat, $340,000 when delivered in 2010, was paid for by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The federal government relies on Stratford police to watch out for suspicious activity along the shore, especially around the railroad bridge, I-95 and Merritt Parkway bridges, and sensitive commercial plants such as the fuel oil storage tanks in Lordship and U.S. Department of Defense contractor Sikorsky Aircraft upriver. The risk of attack to these structures is taken very seriously by Washington and Stratford.
Diverse duties
As the homeland security role indicates, for the SPD marine unit’s three full-time officers, on call around the clock seven days a week from May to October, and its six additional officers who alternate between land patrol and water patrol, the job is much more than citing boaters for violating the no-wake-zone regulations.
SPD marine unit’s official territory is sizable. Stratford has 15 miles of shoreline from the Shelton town line on the river to the Bridgeport city line on the Sound. Stratford and Milford are said to have the most shoreline in the state. The police also cover east to the Milford town line and seven miles out to the middle of Long Island Sound.
Assisting the federal government, investigating boat accidents, protecting seven private marinas from criminal activity and responding to incidents at businesses along the river, such as Knapp’s Landing restaurant and fuel dock, are prime responsibilities of Stratford’s boat patrol.
In addition to those duties, the police enforce fishing and hunting permits and laws, rescue boaters who land on rocks or are otherwise in distress, and enforce boating-under-the-influence laws.
All of this is on top of the more frequent citations and verbal warnings that are issued for infractions such as operating an unregistered boat that requires registration, not having a boating operator’s safety certificate, and speeding in a no-wake zone.
Officer Maida said that the primary goal of the marine unit is boating safety.
During the 2013 boat patrol season Stratford police issued 83 infractions, up 43% from 2012, and 267 verbal warnings.
The unit also conducted 112 vessel safety inspections and investigated three accidents that season, according to Maida.
So far this season there have been 39 infractions cited, 132 verbal warnings and 39 vessel inspections.
Maida said that during each stop of a boat the officers hand over a State of Connecticut Boater’s Guide that has rules and regulations for proper and safe boating.
One of the interesting things about becoming a boater in Connecticut is that while an operator is required to have taken a boating safety coarse for a boat that is motorized or over 19.5 feet, operators are not required to have stepped onto a boat before obtaining the boating safety certificate.
State of the art equipment
Maida reports that Stratford’s Marine 1 is the first police board in the state to have an electronic ticketing printer on board.
In addition to a mobile date computer terminal on the boat, the vessel just added a forward-looking infrared camera onto the roof that has night vision capabilities and can detect persons or evidence in the water up to 1.5 miles away.
This $40,000 item, too, was paid for by a federal grant that the department applied for, according to Maida.
In addition to the Marine 1 boat SPD also utilizes two personal watercraft, commonly known as jet skis, one of which was obtained from an arrested drug dealer and the other from a “dealer loaner program.”
High value service
Officer Kevin Albohn was on the boat with Maida on July 11. Those two officers are the only ones on the force with U.S. Coast Guard captain’s licenses, which requires rigorous testing and qualifications of the national Transportation Safety Administration.
The two said they are happily assigned to the marine unit, but the duty is not always the most sought-after police duty, since it includes grant writing, lots of boat cleaning and shifts on all summer weekends and holidays.
They both emphasized the invaluable service that the town of Stratford receives by having the boating unit, with much of the expenses paid for by government grants. Even annual maintenance and equipment costs, which Maida estimates at $10,000, also are covered by federal “sustainability grants.”
Salaries and fuel costs come out of the town budget, and with a 300-gallon fuel capacity on board, at $4.80 per gallon, that is $1,440 for full capacity.
