Water police, also called harbor patrols, port police, marine/maritime police, nautical patrols, bay constables, river police, or maritime law enforcement or coastal police are police officers, usually a department of a larger police organization, who patrol in water craft. Their patrol areas may be coastal sea waters, rivers, estuaries, harbors, lakes, canals or a combination of these.
Duties and functions
Water police are usually responsible for ensuring the safety of water users, enforcing laws relating to water traffic, preventing crime on vessels, banks and shores, providing
search and rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
services (either as the main provider or as an initial response unit before more specialized units arrive), and allowing the police to reach locations not easily accessible from land. They may also be responsible for coastal security,
environmental law
Environmental law is a collective term encompassing aspects of the law that provide protection to the environment. A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental legal principles, focus on the manage ...
smuggling
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
patrols, and diving search operations (although many police organizations have separate units to handle this). Their operations may coordinate with other agencies with similar assets such as in the United States the various Federal, State or Local authorities may work together to promote or achieve similar enforcement or rescue outcomes. In the United States, a number of states have combined the duties of water police with those of conservation officers.
Equipment ranges from personal water craft and inflatable boats to large seagoing craft, but most police vessels are small to medium, fast motorboats. In some areas these vessels incorporate a
firefighting
Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter.
Firefighters typically ...
capability through a fixed deck nozzle. The operators of these vessels are generally trained in many rescue disciplines including first aid, vessel dewatering, and firefighting. They may also be rescue and scuba divers who are specially trained and also boat operators who may engage in towing operations.
List of water police units
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Australian Federal Police
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...
Belgian Federal Police
The Belgian Federal Police ( nl, Federale Politie; french: Police Fédérale; german: Föderale Polizei) is the national police force of the Kingdom of Belgium. It carries out specialized and supra-local administrative and judicial police oper ...
Durham Regional Police Service
The Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) is the police service operated by and serving the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, Canada. The force serves the following local municipalities, with a combined population of 706,200.
* Pickering
...
Marine Unit
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Halifax Regional Police
The Halifax Regional Police (HRP) is one of a number of law enforcement agencies operating in the Halifax, Nova Scotia; the other primaries being the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Forces Military Police. The city also is home to a ...
Montreal City Police Service
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pea ...
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...
State Police
State police, provincial police or regional police are a type of sub-national territorial police force found in nations organized as federations, typically in North America, South Asia, and Oceania. These forces typically have jurisdiction o ...
Brandenburg Police
The Brandenburg police is the German Landespolizei force for the German state of Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-V ...
Lower Saxony Police
Lower may refer to:
* Lower (surname)
* Lower Township, New Jersey
*Lower Receiver (firearms)
* Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England
See also
*Nizhny
Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни ...
Saxony Police
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
Schleswig-Holstein Police
Schleswig-Holstein Police (German: ''Landespolizei Schleswig-Holstein)'' is a state law-enforcement agency in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is subordinated to the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of the Interior, Municipal Affairs, Housing and Sport ...
Gibraltar Services Police
The Gibraltar Defence Police (GDP) is a civil police force which provides a policing and security service for the Ministry of Defence in Gibraltar. Prior to 17 December 2009 it was known as the Gibraltar Services Police (GSP).
Marine Unit – a civil police force which guards and enforces law on UK Ministry of Defence installations in Gibraltar.
** Royal Gibraltar Police Marine Section
*
** Hellenic Coast Guard, whose full name is "Harbour Corps-Hellenic Coast Guard," was originally founded in 1919 as the "Harbour Corps" ( el, Λιμενικό Σώμα) to act as Greece's maritime and harbour police. It still performs this role, and it is often referred to as the "Harbour orps (Λιμενικό) in everyday Greek parlance.
*
** Hong Kong Police ForceMarine Region – The Marine Police patrol of waters within the territory of Hong Kong, including 263 islands. The Marine Region with about 3,000 officers, and a fleet of 143 in total, made up of 71 launches and 72 craft is the largest of any civil police force. Was referred to as ''Water Police'' until 1948 when it was renamed ''Marine Police''.
**
**
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*
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Indonesian National Police
''
, mottotranslated = (Serving the Nation)
, formed =
, preceding1 =
, dissolved =
, superseding =
, employees = 440,000 (2020)
, volunteers =
, budget =
, nongovernment ...
Garda Síochána
(; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...
Israeli Police
The Israel Police ( he, משטרת ישראל, ''Mišteret Yisra'el''; ar, شرطة إسرائيل, ''Shurtat Isrāʼīl'') is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fightin ...
Marine Police
*
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Corps of the Port Captaincies – Coast Guard
, mottotranslated =
, formedmonthday = July 20
, formedyear = 1865
, preceding1 =
, employees = 11,000
, volunteers =
, budget =
, legalpersonality =
, country = Italy
, constitution1 = Cons ...
New Zealand Police
The New Zealand Police ( mi, Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa) is the national police service and principal law enforcement agency of New Zealand, responsible for preventing crime, enhancing public safety, bringing offenders to justice, and maintai ...
Philippine National Police
The Philippine National Police ( fil, Pambansang Pulisya ng Pilipinas, acronymed as PNP) is the armed national police force in the Philippines. Its national headquarters is located at Camp Crame in Bagong Lipunan ng Crame, Quezon City. Current ...
Polícia Marítima Polícia means police in some languages. ''Policia'' may refer to:
Law enforcement
Spanish terms
*Policía Federal Argentina (Argentine Federal Police)
*Policía Nacional de Colombia ( National Police of Colombia)
*Policía Nacional del Perú (N ...
Moscow Police
The Moscow Police (russian: Московская полиция), officially the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs of the City of Moscow (russian: Главное управление внутренних дел по городу Москве) ...
Guardia Civil del Mar
Guardia (Italian and Spanish, 'guard') may refer to:
People
*Guardia (surname), including a list of people with the name
*Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia (1900–1970), Costa Rican politician
*Francisco Calderón Guardia (1906–1977), Costa Ric ...
Essex Police
Essex Police is a territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Essex, in the East of England. Essex Police is responsible for a population of over 1.8 million people and an area of .
The chief constable is Ben-Julian Harri ...
Kent Police
Kent Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the and approximately 1.8 million inhabitants of Kent, a county in the south east of England.
History
On 14 January 1857, a 222-strong 'Kent County Constabulary' was formed u ...
Norfolk Constabulary
Norfolk Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Norfolk in East Anglia, England. The force serves a population of 908,000 in a mostly rural area of , including 90 miles of coastline and 16 rivers, including the B ...
Anacortes Police Department
Anacortes ( ) is a city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The name "Anacortes" is an adaptation of the name of Anne Curtis Bowman, who was the wife of early Fidalgo Island settler Amos Bowman.Washington
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Austin Park Police
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city i ...
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
**
Baltimore Police Department
The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) is the municipal police department of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Dating back to 1784, the BPD, consisting of 2,935 employees in 2020, is organized into nine districts covering of land and of waterway ...
Baltimore County Police Department
The Baltimore County Police Department is the primary law enforcement agency for Baltimore County, Maryland. They have been accredited by Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (C.A.L.E.A.) since 1984.
Police chief
The curr ...
Barnstable Police Department
Barnstable may refer to:
Places United States
* Barnstable, Massachusetts, a town
*Barnstable (village), Massachusetts, a village ''within'' the town of Barnstable
* Barnstable County, Massachusetts, a county that ''contains'' the town of Barn ...
Catawba County Sheriff's Office Catawba may refer to:
*Catawba people, a Native American tribe in the Carolinas
*Catawba language, a language in the Catawban languages family
*Catawban languages
Botany
*Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other N ...
Chicago Police Department
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...
Colchester Police Department
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colchest ...
Cornelius, North Carolina
Cornelius is a suburban town located along Lake Norman in northern Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States. It is a major suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 24,866 at the 2010 census.
History
Potts Plantation i ...
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Dane County Sheriff's Office
Dane or Danes may refer to:
People Pertaining to Denmark
* Dane, somebody from Denmark
* Danes, an ethnic group native to Denmark
* Danes (Germanic tribe)
Other people
* Dane (name), a surname and a given name (and a list of people with the name ...
Dover Police Department
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidst ...
East Bay Regional Park District Police Department
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
Gaston County Police Department
The Gaston County Police Department is a law enforcement agency of Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. It is the only county police department within the State of North Carolina.
The Gaston County Police Department has the primary res ...
Hennepin County, Minnesota Sheriff's Office
The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) is the sheriff's office for Hennepin County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. HCSO's main offices are in Minneapolis City Hall in the county seat of Minneapolis.
The office manages the county jail, patr ...
Henrico County Division of Police Henrico may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Places Colonial America
* City of Henrico (Virginia Company), also known as Henrico, a county in the Colony of Virginia
** Henricus, also called Henrico, a settlement in the county, founded in 1611
* Henrico Shire, on ...
Huron Police Department
Huron may refer to:
People
* Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America
* Wyandot language, spoken by them
* Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec
* Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...
Town of Islip Harbor Police
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an or ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
Kern County Parks and Recreation
KERN (1180 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Wasco- Greenacres, California, and serving the Bakersfield metropolitan area. The station is owned by American General Media. The radio studios and offices are in the American General M ...
Lake County Sheriff's Department
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...
Levee District Police The Levee District Police (French: ''Police du District de Levee'') is the law enforcement agency responsible for the safety and protection of the Louisiana state levee system. There are several variations of Levee District police offices in the st ...
Lorain Port Authority
Lorain may refer to:
Places
* Lorain, Ohio
* Lorain, Pennsylvania
* Lorain, Wisconsin
* Lorain County, Ohio
** Lorain County Community College
* Lorain Township, Minnesota
People
* René Lorain (born 1900), French athlete
* Sophie Lorain, Canad ...
Port of Los Angeles
The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "America's Port", t ...
Marin County Sheriff's Office
Marin (French) or Marín (Spanish "sailor") may refer to:
People
* Marin (name), including a list of persons with the given name or surname
* MaRin, in-game name of professional South Korean ''League of Legends'' player Jang Gyeong-hwan (born 199 ...
Metropolitan Police Department
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
Miami-Dade Police Department
The Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), formerly known as the Metro-Dade Police Department (1981–1997), Dade County Public Safety Department (1957–1981), and the Dade County Sheriff's Office (1836–1957), is a county police department ser ...
Jefferson City, Missouri
Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the princip ...
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Muskegon County Sheriff's Office
Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expans ...
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
**
New Hampshire Marine Patrol
The New Hampshire Marine Patrol is a division of the New Hampshire Department of Safety. NHMP has jurisdiction on any New Hampshire water body or more (over 1,300 in the state), of river, and approximately of coastline (North to South, not in ...
Department of Safety
**
New Jersey State Police
The New Jersey State Police (NJSP) is the official state police force of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a general-powers police agency with statewide jurisdiction, designated by troop sectors.
History
As with other state police organization ...
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
North Miami Police Department
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' i ...
North Miami Beach Police Department
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' i ...
Oakland County Sheriff's Office
The Oakland County Sheriff's Office is the largest sheriff's department in the state of Michigan. The Sheriff's Office had 859 uniformed officers as of 2017, and has jurisdiction over all of Oakland County, with a population of 1.274 million as ...
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
Ottawa County Sheriff's Office
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
Striking Distance
''Striking Distance'' is a 1993 American action thriller film starring Bruce Willis as Pittsburgh Police homicide detective Thomas Hardy. The film co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Farina, and Tom Sizemore. It was directed by Rowdy Herringto ...
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Placer County Sheriff's Office
Placer may refer to one of the following:
*Placer deposit
*Placer sheep
*Placer mining
*Placer (geography), a submerged bank or reef.
* Placer, rugby league football role.
* Placer, a job title in the Pottery industry.
Geographical names:
* Place ...
Polk County Sheriff's Office
Polk may refer to:
People
* James K. Polk, 11th president of the United States
* Polk (name), other people with the name
Places
*Polk (CTA), a train station in Chicago, Illinois
* Polk, Illinois, an unincorporated community
* Polk, Missouri ...
Port of New Orleans Harbor Police Department
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as ...
Sandusky Police Department Sandusky may refer to:
Places in the United States Cities and towns
* Sandusky, Indiana
* Sandusky, Iowa
* Sandusky, Michigan
* Sandusky, Ohio
* Upper Sandusky, Ohio
* Sandusky, West Virginia
* Sandusky, Wisconsin
Townships
* Sandusky Township ...
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
**
Suffolk County Sheriff's Office
Suffolk County () is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's population ...
Marine Unit,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
**
Summit County Sheriff's Office
A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous.
The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a m ...
Toledo Police Department
Toledo most commonly refers to:
* Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain
* Province of Toledo, Spain
* Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States
Toledo may also refer to:
Places Belize
* Toledo District
* Toledo Settlement
Bolivia
* Toledo, Orur ...
Department of Traffic Police
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
: Vietnam Traffic Police
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Bureau of Water Traffic Patrol and Control
Bureau ( ) may refer to:
Agencies and organizations
*Government agency
*Public administration
* News bureau, an office for gathering or distributing news, generally for a given geographical location
* Bureau (European Parliament), the administrat ...
: Vietnam River Police
****
Bureau of Water Criminal Investigation
Bureau ( ) may refer to:
Agencies and organizations
*Government agency
*Public administration
* News bureau, an office for gathering or distributing news, generally for a given geographical location
* Bureau (European Parliament), the administrat ...
: Vietnam River Police
**** River Squadron I
**** River Squadron II
**** River Squadron III
Gallery
File:Police.boat.london.arp.jpg, A
Metropolitan Police
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
Chicago Police Department
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...
boat on
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...
File:Police.boat.at.poole.arp.jpg, Police boat in Poole Harbour, Dorset, England
File:Helsinki Boat Police 491 492 493.jpg, Helsinki Police Department patrol Boats 491, 192, and 493 in front of ice breaker Voima at Katajanokka,
Helsinki, Finland
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city' ...
.
File:Bay Constable On Patrol.jpg,
Town of Oyster Bay
The Town of Oyster Bay is the easternmost of the three towns which make up Nassau County, New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County to extend from the North Shore to the South Shore o ...
constable on patrol in waters on the north shore of
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
, NY
File:Bermuda Police Marine Section boats.jpg, Boats of the Marine Section of the Bermuda Police Service at Barr's Bay, in Hamilton, Bermuda.
File:CP 302.jpg, Italian Maritime Police Patrol boat
File:Indonesian Police Patrol Boat.jpg, Indonesian POLAIR (Marine Police) Patrol Boat
File:Consortium.jpg, Consortium, one of the vessels used by the UK's North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit
File:North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit Cheetah catamaran.JPG, A Cheetah catamaran acquired by the UK's North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit in 2012, to be used during the London Olympics
File:HK Police Department Ship No80.jpg, Hong Kong Police ForceMarine Region Police Launch 80
File:TorontoPoliceMarineUnit.jpg, Toronto Police Marine Unit
File:Patrol Komisariatu Rzecznego Policji w Warszawie 01.JPG, Water police patrol boat on the Vistula river in Warsaw, Poland
File:Itsas Zain.jpg, Basque Police (Ertzaintza) Patrol boat