Marine Operations Section

The Marine Section provides law enforcement, emergency medical services, Homeland Security High Value Asset protection and general assistance to boaters within Town and regional waters. The Town of Greenwich is bordered by 31 miles of coastline and contains approximately 25 square miles of open water within the Long Island Sound. The Marine Section is staffed on a year-round basis and supervised by one Sergeant with one Marine Technician and five full-time Marine Officers, all of whom are under the overall command of the Operations Captain.

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Vessels

The Marine Section Fleet consists of three primary patrol vessels:

  • PB Number 139: A regional Homeland Security Vessel was built by North River Boats of Roseburg, Oregon and was placed into service in May of 2013. PB Number 139 is a 39ft aluminum hulled jet driven vessel with a 12 foot beam and hybrid foam collar. The vessel is powered by twin 550 horse power John Deere Turbo Diesel engines coupled to Hamilton Jet Drives. The vessel is equipped with state of the art navigational equipment, Side-Scan Sonar, FLIR, Radar, CBRNE Detection, 1,000 pound Lift Crane and has firefighting capabilities.
  • PB Number 124: Built by Hike Metal Products and Shipbuilding Limited of Wheatley Ontario, Canada was placed into service in September of 2002. PB Number 124 is a 34 foot aluminum hulled jet driven vessel with a 12 foot beam. The vessel is powered by twin Cummins 480 horse power Turbo Diesel engines coupled to Hamilton Jet Drives. The vessel is equipped with state of the art navigational equipment, Side-Scan Sonar, FLIR, Radar and has a 1,000 pound Lift Crane.
  • PB Number 125: Built by North River Boats of Roseburg, Oregon was placed into service in October of 2009. PB Number 125 is a 31 foot aluminum hulled vessel with a 10 foot beam and hybrid foam collar. The vessel is powered by twin 300 Horse Power (HP) Yamaha outboard engines. The vessel is equipped with state of the art navigational equipment, Radar and FLIR.

All three vessels are equipped for all weather operations, search and rescue and EMS/patient transportation. The vessels are also designed to accommodate the department’s divers during dive operations.

Emergency Medical Certifications

The Greenwich Police Department is recognized by the State Office of Emergency Medical Services as a First Responder. As such, all of our Marine Officers are certified Emergency Medical Technicians. All three vessels carry a full array of equipment designed to provide emergency medical care to the injured. In addition, the Marine Section is the only marine unit on the Long Island Sound to run a Paramedic Ride-a-Long Program. In cooperation with Greenwich Emergency Medical Services (GEMS), paramedics ride along with the Marine Section on the weekends, holidays and special events during the Town’s boating season.

Police Dive Team

The Greenwich Police Department Dive Team was formed in 1959 by then Chief David Robbins. It is the oldest police dive team in the State of Connecticut. The team consists of 12 members highly trained to serve the Town of Greenwich and other emergency services in any operation that requires specialized training and certification in scuba for underwater:

  • Body and Evidence Recovery
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Homeland Security High Value Asset Inspections
  • Search and Rescue
  • Surface and Overhead Ice Rescue/Recovery
  • Vessel Hull Inspections
Dive Team in Water

Equipment

Divers are equipped with state of the art individual dive equipment specifically designed for Public Safety Diving which includes: dry suits, full facemask, and advanced underwater communications. All of this equipment allows for all year diving in the Long Island Sound and inland waters. The Dive Team is equipped with a FEMA Grant Funded 24ft Regional Dive Operations Trailer utilized for equipment storage, transport and diver donning and doffing. The trailer is also designed as a Dive Command Post with radio and diver communications, observation deck, scuba air fill station and hazardous materials decontamination. The trailer is deployable within Town and the region upon request.

The Dive Team is also equipped with FEMA Grant Funded Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV) that has Sonar, HD Video, Grabber Arm and Cutting Tools. The ROV can be deployed to depths of 1,000ft. The ROV is available within Town and the region upon request. In addition, the Dive Team also has several other pieces of advanced equipment at their disposal that includes: 1,000 pound lift bags for vehicle and vessel recoveries, metal detectors, and digital underwater still and video cameras.

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