Just what does that high-priced vessel do? | Letters | Dec. 18
Published 10:11 am Friday, December 18, 2009
I know you meant well, defending the honor of our super-sized police boat, but I suspect that the boat may not deserve your enthusiasm and that in fact the boat is a poor use of limited resources.
Since starting with dinghies and jet-skis, over the years BIPD has steadily upgraded to bigger and more powerful boats, until the current vessel, a 40-foot “safeboat” with three 250-horsepower engines.
The boat has been justified as protection against terrorist attacks, against death on the high seas and against marine crime.
However, as anyone who observes the water or reads the police blotter knows, the police boat actually serves three primary functions: (1) checking registrations of moored boats; (2) towing out-of-gas boats; and (3) responding to callers’ concerns that a boat might be in trouble – only to find out the boat was fine or another rescuer arrived first.
What is the boat’s purpose? It’s freeboard is too high to easily rescue people or property; its cabin too limited for bad weather; it’s engines too thirsty for economical or environmentally friendly harbor patrols.
(At full-speed it burns 90 gallons per hour; meaning a dash to Brownsville for a fill-up costs about $250 not to mention the costs for the two or three marine officers onboard.)
So, what is the purpose? Chasing terrorists on a sunny day?
Is this boat better than a smaller, cheaper, lower freeboard, less powerful boat that could be operated by a single officer using only one-tenth of the fuel? What are the city’s total boat costs (fuel, maintenance, storage, payroll for the officers who are unavailable for traditional police duties when they are on the boat)?
How many times is our police boat deployed annually in response to actual or suspected emergencies? Of those deployments, how many times did it (not another boat) actually provide rescue services?
Does the Bainbridge boat duplicate services of other local government boats (fire department, U.S. Coast Guard, Kitsap County Sheriff, City of Seattle)?
Does it make sense to provide free towing for boaters when they could buy towing insurance for $100 per year and Vessel Assist provides on-call tow services?
(Would the Review advocate the city buy a truck and offer free car towing? By stressing its “water highway” analogy, the editorial seemed headed toward such a suggestion.)
I hope the Review does the research needed to properly support or discredit its editorial.
Sheri Ley-Mackey
Bainbridge Island
