The City of New Rochelle web site says the New Rochelle Police Department has a SCUBA unit — a sergeant and five police officers. The unit is supposed to be responsible for rescue and recovery on the waters of Long Island Sound that bound the City of New Rochelle. The SCUBA unit, however, has been out of action for the last two recovery operations.
It is not for lack of the $1,100 needed to pays the costs and fees associated with maintaining a certified SCUBA unit but concerns over the appearance that the City is spending money on “luxuries” in difficult times, sources say.
The Mayor, City Manager and City Council can expect tough questions in the wake of the two recent rescue and recovery efforts off New Rochelle waters where New Rochelle’s SCUBA unit sat idle.
On Sunday, a young sailboater went missing off Premium Point. A month ago, Mount Vernon firefighter James Drago, who took his boat out of the New Rochelle Marina, was missing for a week before his body was recovered.
Do we really need or want to
Do we really need or want to heavily police the waterfront? All the money in the world can’t stop people from doing stupid things, things like not wearing a pdf during a raging thunderstorm. We have a mile or 2 of coastline and must spend a considerable amount of money policing it.
After the memorial day parade, I got a 1st hand look at their boats and equipment and all could think is they look expensive and that maybe 1 Boston Whaler might be able to cover the entire area for a fraction of the cost. NR isn’t the only policing entity on the sound so I would think in a major incident we could call in for back up, for example NYC or the Coast Guard must have boats that could respond. From the boats I saw, it seems like we getting ready for an invasion of some sort landing on our shores at the expense of the taxpayers.
Are you serious? There is no
Are you serious? There is no way that the 1 Boston Whaler can cover the entire Long Island Sound that New Rochelle Harbor Police covers. They can attempt to call NYPD or the Coast Guard but in the time that it takes them to get here the NRPD can save a life. If that was your loved one they were looking for you would be happy to have ALL the man power to look for them. I think the NRPD Harbor unit should get a new boat every year or every two years.
That’s the whole point,
That’s the whole point, where does it say that NR has to patrol the whole sound?
Don’t forget we only have a mile or 2 of coastline and no amount of money or policing is going to stop people from not wearing life jackets (perhaps you think we should have a law for that too?) or teach people to respect the sea and the powers that it has.
We have more than a mile or
We have more than a mile or 2 that the NRPD patrols on the Long Island Sound. And I am not saying that NRPD will stop poeple from wearing life jackets but if another incident like this happens maybe if there is more than 1 boat out there they can save a life. And there is a law for life jackets but it is only for kids under 12 or something like that. I am just saying that the NRPD Harbor Unit does a GREAT job and they need more than 1 boat to patrol.