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New Police Boat in action
Sgt. David McManus photo taken Saturday: Deputy Chief Russ Fitts skippering the new police boat, with Officer Shaun Beebe assisting in the tow. Fitts: “This is one of two disabled boats that were assisted with tows that day. Over the Memorial Day weekend officers provided 34 hours of patrol time on the waterways in Ocean Shores.”
Outraged Citizen: “Whaaaaat?!! With all our budget problems, we’re going out and buying new police toys???!!!”
Take a deep breath, sir/madam.
According to Fitts: “Yearly vessel registration fees are distributed to agencies with recognized programs that allow for them to staff programs and obtain equipment at no charge to the departments. The Ocean Shores Police Department’s new patrol boat was obtained through a grant from this program.”
Thank you to Ocean Shores Marine Patrol for their immediate response when our boat broke a propeller after hitting a submersed object. The electric boat alone weighs 3500 pounds not counting passengers. The new patrol boat easily towed our boat and passengers to safety.
Tom and Nancy Kimzey
One should check the record first to know that we bought the boat before we got the grant last year. The grant was announced as a surprise after the fact. We were also told last year that the funds from registering boats was used for the safe boating and water safety classes for the 4th graders. In fact, the funds the city had obtained were going towards a portion of the purchase price. Note that was not the whole price. Then we got the grant to pay for the boat.
Also, many other lake cities use the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, which has offered to come to Ocean Shores, and provide additional visible deterrent in more than one place on the lakes. They also would assist in safety checks.
A newspaper article is not always correct. That is why they have correction statements in every paper that I have read. Current practices may allow the funding of the officers on the boat, but that was not the fact in the past. Maybe our city finance director and Chief could clear this question up. I wonder if we are debiting the same money twice. Do we have a separate ledger item in the budget for the boat, it’s staffing, fuel, insurance, training, and other operation costs?
I doubt there is any way our public service agencies can please all the people all the time. There will always be a few who have no life of thier own and spend their time trying to dig up something thay can smear others with.
I feel sorry for those people.
They are the same ones who complain about speeders on their street and then complain when they get a ticket for speeding on someone elses street.
They are the same ones who think the public service agencies are overstaffed and then complain when they call for help and the response time isn’t what they think it should be.
They are the same ones who complain that the City pays our public servants too much and then complain if the quality of service goes down.
Now I see the City is going to try to bad mouth the public service employees into a reduction in salary. These people are finaly close to a comfortable living wage and they are expected to give up part of it?
How comfortable would we all be if these fine employees got tired of being put down on a regular basis and just departed for an area that might appreciate them.
Then you can lower the pay, reduce the staffing and hire people that couldn’t get hired anywhere else. That will be fun for all, especially when you have a medical emergency or happen to need a cop to save your rear end.
Good Luck! You WILL need it!
Folks,
The article states:
“Yearly vessel registration fees are distributed to agencies with recognized programs that allow for them to staff programs and obtain equipment at no charge to the departments. The Ocean Shores Police Department’s new patrol boat was obtained through a grant from this program.”
Part of this was in bold, the part where it states that staffing and equipment are funded from this program. Which means, unless you are registering your boat, you are not paying for this.
The officers are out there to promote and enforce safe boating practices. They are making sure the laws are followed on the water. If no one was speeding, or drinking and boating last weekend, perhaps it was because the presence of the police boat deterred such behavior.
Please check the facts before making judgements on these issues. Some of these comments are insulting to the officers who sacrifice daily to serve this community in many capacities. Their families also make great sacrifices for this particular career and it’s astounding how little appreciation and how much criticism these particular individuals receive from the community they vowed to protect and serve.
You are all sad. Hey, I have a great idea. Why don’t we allow another child to die on the lake, have no Police presence, and just say, “Oh well,” at least they we didn’t have to pay them. You are all sad sad folks. You have nothing better to do than complain. Our public safety departments are doing a great job…wait until you need them…I wouldn’t have used your real names if I were you in case you need them someday. Open mouth, insert foot. You should all think ahead before you say anything pointless and stupid.
Last year I was told that we pay the officers time and a half to operate the boat. I was told that it was voluntary overtime. That means you need to adjust your numbers. Also, $50K divided by 2000 hours (40Hrs X 50 Weeks) is $25. per hour. So simply put, the boat does not operate for free. by the way, we still have the old boat as the Public Works Boat with yellow instead of blue lights on it.
As to wakes, they cause damage to the shoreline, cause soil more quickly fill in our lakes, and damage boats and docks along the sides of the lake. Additionally, there are areas where it is shallow and there are snags. Not to mention the wildlife that is breeding along the shorelines of our lakes.
Let’s see, if those two officers make $20 an hour give or take, x 34 hours, my rough old fashioned math comes up with $1760.00. Pretty expensive tow jobs. Or were there wild parties happening on the lake, speeding and such? We didn’t even see a water skier out there (we live on the lake). Saw a few party boats, but the people were bundled up and sitting pretty quietly. Saw a few kyakers and one pleasure boat. Never even saw a rowdy fisherman. Does the grant also pay their salaries? hmmmm Joan
I say “lower the speed limits on those boats!” Someone will surely have “radar gunned” them going 26 MPH or, heaven forbid, leaving a wake.