Marine Division Gone?

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June 17, 2009 - The Oakland County Sheriff's Department practice of keeping a Marine Division patrol boat on more than two dozen county lakes for the duration of the boating season is expected to end after this summer due to budget considerations.The change will occur next summer due to pending Sheriff's Department budget cuts for the 2009-10 fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1. The planned spending cuts will also result in a scaling back of other Marine Division services."Next year, we won't have any permanent lake boats out there," said Sgt. Matt Snyder, commander of the Marine Division. "We might have a couple on the larger lakes, but as far as the majority of them, there won't be any permanent moored boats out there. We are going to be available for our (Dive Team) call outs, we'll be available to respond to any kind of incidents and calls, but we're not going to be out there patrolling the lakes like we once were."The department is currently planning for $13.3 million in spending cuts that will take place beginning Oct. 1, including about $1 million less for the Marine Division, which currently operates on a budget of about $1.2 million a year."The sheriff has made the decision that he's cutting services that affect the least amount of people countywide, so the bottom line is that the marine unit is part of those cuts," said Undersheriff Michael McCabe."We're eliminating the two-full time (Marine Division) deputies, but we're not eliminating the Dive/Rescue Team," he said. "We will fund as many part-timers as we can with the state's reimbursement of the money we send to the state."McCabe added that the department has already been approached by a couple of lake associations that are interested in contracting for part-time deputies to maintain regular patrol hours next summer."We haven't done it in the past, but we will now," McCabe said of entering into marine patrol contracts. "So if there is a lake association or homeowners group that would like to see more than what we're going to provide, they'll have the ability to do that, but they'll have to pay for it."McCabe said he doesn't believe the Marine Division is receiving enough financial support from the state to provide marine law enforcement and education services at current levels."The state only gives us about $230,000 (a year) despite the fact that we have the most registered boats in the state of Michigan and we have over 400 navigable lakes and rivers," McCabe said. "The state Legislature and the (Department of Natural Resources) goes through a formula that we question, which gives us back about 25 cents on the dollar (sent to Lansing through boat registration fees), so for every dollar we send to Lansing we only get back 25 cents. We have approached a couple of legislators, including (state Rep.) Eileen Kowall (R-Highland, White Lake), to say we have a real mess here on our hands and Oakland County is getting the short end of the stick. We're trying to obtain more state funds through that boat registration process and at least get back to (a return of) 50 cents on the dollar."McCabe said despite the pending budget cuts, the division will continue doing the best job it can with the money that is allocated, and that the department is looking at other ways to serve the public."Property values dropped 4.5 percent last year, and this year almost 13 percent," he said. "Governmental entities get their revenue from property taxes and the amount of revenue drops correspondingly."Our big focus right now is on Lansing," he said. "If we can get back some of the money we're supposed to have, we will correspondingly increase the amount of patrols that take place out on the lakes."In the meantime, the Marine Division will conduct regular patrols on the major area lakes this summer to keep watch over boaters, with an emphasis on cracking down on drunken boating and adjusting to a new state law allowing personal watercraft (PWC) riders to stay out on the water later.The Marine Division will keep patrol boats this summer on the following west Oakland lakes for regular patrols: Cass Lake, North and South Commerce lakes, Duck Lake, Elizabeth Lake, Loon Lake (Waterford Township), Lower Straits Lake, Maceday Lake, Middle Straits Lake, Orchard Lake, Pine Lake, Pontiac Lake, Lake Sherwood, Sylvan Lake, Union Lake, Walled Lake, Walnut Lake, Watkins Lake, White Lake, Williams Lake and Long Lake (Commerce and White Lake townships).
This year's list is pretty consistent," Snyder said. "There are no additions or deletions. Everything's kind of the same. We try to concentrate on the more populated, larger lakes."Marine Division Deputy Dennis Finney said that patrol hours can occur on weekends and holidays anywhere from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or noon to 8 p.m. on the lakes where the Marine Division permanently stations a patrol boat for the summer.Snyder said that if a lake generates certain complaints, the division will adjust those general patrol hours."Overall we're out there in the middle of the day, when most people are out there, so we can just make it safe," he said.One change taking place on area lakes this summer is a new state law that allows operators to use their PWCs on the water until sunset. The previous law allowed them to be out on the water until a hour before sunset."We're all aware of it, so we'll be looking for it," Snyder said. "It became effective in April of this year."Marine Division deputies will also be on the lookout for boat and PWC operators who are under the influence of alcohol, with a special emphasis on the weekend of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 26-28. That's when the division will be participating in Operation Dry Water, a nationwide program organized by the National Organization of State Boating Law Administrators to crack down on boating under the influence of alcohol."We will be concentrating on the alcohol related-issues including reckless operation," Snyder said. "Our guys are always aware of the reckless operation of vehicles or vessels." The Marine Division uses about 34 watercraft to patrol the county's waterways, including 12 Searay boats, 12 Monterey boats, two Larson boats, one Bayliner boat, one Proline search and rescue boat for the Dive Team, one Proline jump boat, two Triumph jump boats, one rigid hull inflatable, one Smokercraft aluminum boat, and one Hoverguard 1000 hovercraft vessel.The division also has an underwater sonar unit and an underwater remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) for use in search and rescue operations. In addition, the division has four all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and four snowmobiles for patrols during the winter season."We have a dive van that has all our support equipment, all the necessary lines, buoys, markers, chain saws, tow bars — you name it," Snyder said. "We have a gas maintenance vehicle, which is a pickup truck with a gas tank in the back that's able to tow any one of our boats. It has a gas tank in the back and that's how we fill our boats up on the lakes. They don't come out to gas up, we go to them and gas them up."According to Snyder, the Marine Division consists of approximately 60 part-time marine deputies. The division's Dive/Rescue team consists of 12 full-time deputies that work throughout the Sheriff's Department in different capacities, in addition to being on-call 24/7 for dive team deployment."We have a great response time to water accidents, or drownings, or missing persons, because we're spread out," Snyder said of the marine and Dive/Rescue Team deputies. "We do search and rescues, and we also do evidence searches. We also are available for mutual aid to any other surrounding county, including Livingston, Washtenaw, Wayne and Macomb."The Dive/Rescue team is trained by Frank Schipani, a retired Sheriff's Department sergeant who now serves as a part-time Marine Division deputy. He also repairs the division's watercraft."I'm the instructor, but the union contract excludes me from being on the dive team officially; but I dive with inethem all the time," Schipani said. "I train them all and I respond if I'm in town."The process of becoming a Dive/Rescue Team member requires a deep commitment."First we do an application process and sometimes I'll get a diver that's already a basic scuba diver; but if not, I'll give them a basic scuba diving class and then we try to work them up to what we call master scuba diver (certification). We give them some pretty intense training," Schipani said.The divers train about once a month, when they are tested on a variety of tasks and conditions."Usually in September we'll do a three-day training session; and we do everything from ice diving to night diving and deep diving," Schipani said. "In the winter, we'll do a pool session where we actually black out their masks and give them tasks to do while they can't see, like taking bolts and nuts apart and putting them back together and swimming through obstacles, including netting and maybe tires and tubes, to challenge them. They're trained to use dry suits and full-face masks, which are a little more difficult to use than standard scuba gear."Schipani added that the divers are also trained in the use of the underwater sonar equipment."We give them a pretty physical, grueling day when we do dive training and we make them work — it's not like sport diving," he said. "We might get a call at 2 or 3 in the morning and we have to get ready to handle whatever conditions we go out to."All the dive team members keep their scuba equipment in their patrol car with them and we have pagers," he said. "When a call goes out, normally everybody responds; but between vacations and other things, we don't always get the whole team response. In 90 percent of the drownings or the callouts, the whole team responds."Schipani said that his job as a marine deputy is interesting because there's a variety of things to do."You never know what you're going to do when you get in," he said. "You never know if you're going to have a callout or a problem with a boat."I hate recovering children — it's one of the downsides, having to recover a family member, but it does bring closure to the family," Schipani said. "It's better than having your relative gone missing. That tears you up and you never get used to that."The Marine Division has been working to combat drownings and accidents with boater safety courses that are offered to the public, including students in the county's public middle and high schools."Last year, we taught around 8,000 students who were certified in boater safety by the sheriff's department," said Deputy Finney, a full-time Marine Division deputy whose primary duty is providing boater education. "What the class teaches are the rules of safe navigation, the rules of operation, hours of operation, techniques for docking, anchoring, and safety procedures. We test and certify them and if they pass the class, we actually give them their boater safety license at that time."While it's not a requirement to operate a boat, Michigan law requires that anyone born after Dec. 31, 1978, who wants to operate a PWC has to take and pass a boater safety class to operate such vessels.Children age 12 and 13 may attend the class with a parent or guardian, while children 14 and older may attend the class and operate a PWC on their own once they're certified.However, in 2011, the age at which a child can operate a PWC alone will be raised to 16."It's about 40 states that have enacted laws that require you to take this class if you're going to drive a (PWC)," Finney said."The educational goal is to make the public aware of the rules that govern safe boating," he said. "If everyone follows the rules, it's a safe, enjoyable sport or activity."Some of the rules the classes focus on include driving only counter-clockwise around lakes."If you're skiing or tubing you have to have a spotter, which is critical so they can notify the boat operator if the person falls in the water," Finney said. "But with all the traffic going one direction, it makes it much easier. If your skier falls off, you have to go back to them quickly, so other boaters know what's going on and can avoid the skier."The boating safety classes also emphasize boaters being at least 100 feet off shore and away from any other vessel when operating a boat at high speed. Boat operators that navigate closer than 100 feet to shore or any object in the water have to slow down to a slow/no-wake speed, which is defined as a speed at which there is no "white" water in the track or path of the vessel and no waves or wake created by the vessel.
Finney said that using a lifejacket is probably the single most important thing a boater can do, and that children under the age of 6 must wear a lifejacket when they're on a moving boat."Most people who drown never plan on being in the water," he said. "They fall and bump their head as they go overboard. Without a lifejacket, they're going to drown before anyone gets to them in that kind of a situation."The Marine Division will be offering boating safety classes at its headquarters, located at 1700 Brown Road in Auburn Hills, on June 27, July 11, July 25, Aug. 8 and Aug. 22.Safety courses will also take place at the Wixom Community Center on July 15 and 17, and at the Waterford Township CAI building on Williams Lake Road on July 18.Those interested in signing up for the classes should register with the Marine Division by calling 248-391-0256, or contacting the city of Wixom or Waterford Parks and Recreation Department.With the upcoming budget cuts being implemented in October, Finney's full-time deputy position will be eliminated. He said he plans to return to road patrol.Finney added that doesn't believe that boater safety education courses in the public schools will take place during the 2009-10 school year. He said he believes the division will continue to use part-time deputies for community outreach, and that it may direct residents to online sources for boater safety classes, but he couldn't speculate beyond that.

This information was provided by Michael Shelton of the Spinal Column Newsweekly.