Politics.bm

Out of their depth

There's one important reason missing in the Gazette's article today about the lack of use of the Police's snazzy boat for drug interdiction etc.:

Police had researched the purchase of a new boat for four years and top brass had travelled several times to Australia before buying the 54-foot craft — which can travel 200 nautical miles out to sea.

But its effectiveness in drug interdiction has been questioned as it is a fixed-hull and cannot come alongside another fixed hull without risking sinking one or both craft. A small inflatable was then put on the boat but Police are reluctant to use it in rough seas typical further out to sea.

What about the safety of the officers?

There's no law 200 miles offshore. It's the wild west. Drug runners shoot first and ask questions later. Unless our officers are packing some serious weaponry, that is one dangerous game to play in the open ocean.

A former marine police officer who was a friend once explained that to me as a reason the previous vessel would never get involved in any serious offshore drug interdiction.

Don't forget that the US Coast Guard is an arm of the military, not the police. They have massive firepower on board to provide some muscle and military training for the crews.

A 200 foot Coast Guard Cutter with artillery approaching a vessel is a whole different kettle of fish than a little 54 foot boat with a handful of police officers a long way from home with no backup.

The idea of using Regiment soldiers for this also strikes me as a really, really REALLY bad idea from this perspective; these 'soldiers' would be totally out of their depth (pardon the pun).