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 (either as the main provider or as an initial response unit before more specialized units arrive), 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 (although many police organizations have separate units to handle this). 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 enforcement 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 Austria Federal Police (Austria) Water Police of Austria (especially Vienna) Bahamas Royal Bahamas Police Force Harbour Patrol Bangladesh Bangladesh River Police
Belgium Belgian Federal Police Water Police Branch (DAC) Bermuda Bermuda Police Marine Unit Canada National Royal Canadian Mounted Police West Coast Marine Detachment (Police units, usually the RCMP, can join the Canadian Coast Guard on patrol) 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 Maritime Gendarmerie Brigades nautiques et fluviales 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 [Corps]" (Λιμενικό) 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 dan Udara (POLAIRUD)
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 Dublin Harbour Police Dún Laoghaire Harbour Police Garda Síochána Water Unit
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
Myanmar Myanmar Police Force Maritime Police Force
Netherlands Dienst Waterpolitie, water police force, a subdivision of the "Landelijke Eenheid" (LE), the nationwide unit. New Zealand New Zealand Police Maritime Policing Unit Panama National Aeronaval Service Philippines Philippine National Police Philippine National Police Maritime Group Portugal Maritime Police Republican National Guard (Portugal) Unidade de Controlo Costeiro (Coast Control Unit) 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 Guardia Civil Guardia Civil del Mar Servicio de Vigilancia Aduanera (Customs) Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Police Service Marine Division South Africa South African Police Service Water Wing Sweden
The Swedish Police Authority operates maritime patrol units (Sjöpolisen) based in Stockholm and in Göteborg. Thailand Royal Thai Police ( Thai Marine Police Division) 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 (formerly Thames Division) 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 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement United States Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachments (LEDETS) Maritime Law Enforcement Specialist United States Customs and Border Protection: Air and Marine Operations United States Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement United States Park Police Marine Unit 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 Baltimore Police Department Marine Unit, Maryland Baltimore County Police Department Marine Unit, Maryland