El Dorado County deputies scale back boat patrols
As boating activities slow down, the El Dorado County sheriff’s boat patrol unit will appropriately modify its schedule to meet off-season boating needs.
Lake Tahoe, Fallen Leaf Lake, and Lower Echo Lake are patrolled by deputies from the South Lake Tahoe station, while Folsom Lake, Jenkinson Lake, Union Valley Reservoir, Ice House Reservoir and the South Fork of the American River are patrolled by deputies from the Placerville office.
The department received a California Department of Boating and Waterways grant which with boat registration fees funded the boat patrol activities with no cost to the county general fund.
During the 2012 summer season deputies assisted 390 vessels and contacted 4,389 individuals. They conducted 20 searches for missing persons, 42 vessel inspections, investigated 13 boating accidents, issued 1,563 verbal warnings, 204 citations, and made six arrests for boating under the influence. During the 2012 season, there were two fatalities on El Dorado County waterways.
I see patrol boats from El Dorado Sheriff’s office, the City of South Lake Tahoe Police, the Coast Guard and Douglas County Sheriff (only during the Celebrity Golf Tournament when they anchor off the 17th hole).
Do we really need to pay for all these?
There is the TRPA boat and a state park boat maybe Placer county and Incline have a boat tp.
I worked at a park years ago where we had a lake and our own patrol boat, and a Sheriff’s boat too. Real nice Alumaweld. They bought a new one every year because if they didn’t spend the whole budget, that budget would be decreased the next year.
That’s how government agencies work.
I wonder how many of the 1000’s of people assisted by ElDo Sheriffs boat patrols(no cost to county gen. fund) were the greedy incessantly whiny “I hate Gubmint” types who would have been in deep doodoo without the deputies help.
New boat every year? That okay with you, Tea? Please.
Expecting a little restraint from our agencies doesn’t mean we “hate gubmint” as you so condescendingly assert. That attitude is the reason the country is so polarized. You scream for others to compromise, but won’t do so yourselves.