How does Palmetto Police Department patrol more than nine miles of waterfront? It doesn't
There are nine and a half miles of waterfront, mainly along the Manatee River, that the Palmetto Police Department is responsible for. There's only one problem: they don't have a boat of their own.
But Palmetto Chief of Police Scott Tyler is determined to change that.
Two recent attempted suicides off the Green Bridge into the Manatee River clearly illustrated the need for the Palmetto Police Department to have its own boat as the area continues to grow. The two jumpers were saved thanks to the assistance of bystanders, and so now more than ever the Palmetto Police Department is committed to getting its own patrol boat.
"We have a lot of calls of service and we have a lot of coastline that we need to patrol," Tyler said. "It's come to a point that we cannot rely on other agencies to assist us."
The police department's most recent attempts at funding for a marine unit of their own were shot down by the Manatee County Commission on May 22.
Tyler and Mayor Shirley Grover Bryant asked the county commission to submit their application to the West Coast Inland Navigation District for a more than $73,000 grant to purchase a new equipped marine rescue boat with trailer. The commission denied the request.
But the police chief said he will not stop until he gets the funding, and has a couple other ideas in mind. Ultimately, the city commission may have to at least assist with partial funding, he added, because the police department having its own marine unit has become a necessity for the city.
"So when we have a need, whether it's a jumper or an incident out on the river ... we have to rely on other agencies," Tyler said. "No one staffs a 24/7 marine presence in Manatee County."
There is not even a public safety boat on the river between Bradenton and Palmetto between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily, he added. So often, police have to depend on civilians willing and able to help.
Bradenton Chief of Police Melanie Bevan said Tyler was absolutely right. Bradenton police is not even able to staff its boat full-time, she added.
For any law enforcement agency to be full-service in Florida, which has so many waterways, Bevan said the agency needs to be able to pull people out on the water.
"To me it's a necessity to every agency that in any way abuts a large body of water," Bevan said.
Bevan supports Tyler's effort to acquire a marine unit for the Palmetto Police Department, and says it would allow all of the county's agencies to better coordinate always having a unit on the water.
Several public safety and law enforcement agencies have marine units in Manatee County, including the county's Marine Rescue Division of the Public Safety Department. All the fire departments with coastal borders in the county have their own marine units with at least one boat.
The Bradenton Fire Department has a second boat, a jet-boat, that remains on a trailer to be used for emergencies on inland bodies of water. The non-profit volunteer Manatee County Search and Rescue squad also has an inflatable rescue boat that has been used before during severe flooding, for example. Two jet-skis are also part of Marine Rescue's unit.
Marine Rescue Chief Joe Westerman agrees that adding more assets on the water would certainly be beneficial to residents.
"When you deal with the water, it is not like any other situation you see," Westerman said.
When dealing with situations on land, multiple agencies can respond from all over the county to assist, the chief explained. Responding to situations out on the water is different, he said, and despite sounding cliche is often is like "being on an island by yourself."
Just two days after the county commission denied Palmetto's request for funding, a 39-year-old woman jumped off the Green Bridge into the Manatee River in an attempted suicide. It was the second time in less than two weeks that officers were responded to a jumper call with no immediate access to a boat.
Thinking quickly, Detective Joe Rogers and Sgt. Ryan LaRowe rushed to the Palmetto Boat Ramp at Eighth Avenue West and Riverside Drive and were able to get someone with a boat to take them out onto the river. The woman was found and pulled out of the water. Officers were able to perform CPR until they got back to shore where paramedics were waiting.
"Fortunately, when seconds and even minutes count, we were able to find a boat there," Tyler said.
Less than two weeks before, on Mother's Day, a 25-year-old man also tried to end his life by jumping off of the same bridge.
When Palmetto police officers responded, they reached out to the Bradenton Police Department for assistance. But the Bradenton police marine patrol was not in service and scrambled to call someone in.
But before Bradenton police could arrive, Palmetto police officers had gotten assistance from the public.
"There was a family that was out fishing and they were able to pick him up," Tyler said. "We were very fortune that they were there."
Tyler hopes to get his department a marine unit within a year and to begin by having two or three officers trained and certified to captain the boat. While the department will also be unable to staff their marine unit full-time, many Palmetto police officers live in or just outside the city, Tyler said, making potential response times fairly quick in emergency situations.
Palmetto having its own marine unit, would also help the county as a whole because it will be one more unit that can assist other agencies when needed, Tyler said.
While the county commission did deny Palmetto's request to submit their application to The West Coast Inland Water District to fund a marine unit, it did agree to submit an application for the city to receive $15,000 to assist in the removal of derelict boats.
If Palmetto had its own marine unit, Tyler agreed it would help expedite the process in removing derelict boats.
This story was originally published May 30, 2018 at 1:54 PM with the headline "How does Palmetto Police Department patrol more than nine miles of waterfront? It doesn't."