Sheriffs urge safety on boats this summer
EDINBURG, N.Y. » With the summer season unofficially kicking off this weekend, hordes of people from the Capital Region and beyond are expected to take to the area’s many rivers and lakes.
On Friday, law enforcement agencies from around the region gathered at the Edinburg Marina to remind people that police boats will be on the lookout for intoxicated or unsafe boaters and to promote a multi-agency effort called #OperationSoberBoater.
“We’re not looking to bust anybody’s chops,” Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino, whose jurisdiction includes part of the Great Sacandaga Lake, said. “We want to deter reckless activity.”
Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo said the initiative aims to remind people of boating laws and to promote safety on the water. For example, Zurlo said people should make sure to know how to properly use safety equipment such as personal floatation devices, know the weather conditions and even the conditions of the waterways.
Zurlo noted debris such as tree limbs are still scattered about the lakes and can make conditions tricky if a boater is unaware of the physical layout of any particular lake or river.
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said the collaborative effort is meant to make waterways safer. While counties like Saratoga and Fulton have many lakes to look after, Apple’s department mostly patrols the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers and works with law enforcement agencies in Schenectady and Rensselaer counties to keep those areas safe.
“One reckless boater can take
out a whole family,” Apple said. “If you are going to be an idiot out on your boat, you’re going to draw us in.”
All three sheriffs stressed the goal of the increased enforcement on the water is not to prevent boaters from enjoying themselves. They all said officers — not only from the local sheriff’s departments but also from state police and state Department of Environmental Conservation — are trained to be on the lookout for suspicious or unsafe activity and won’t be randomly pulling boaters over.
Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Mike Stewart, one of the department’s boat pa-
trol officers, said most people don’t realize that rules for operating a boat in an intoxicated condition are the same as drunken driving on the roads.
Last year, Albany and Saratoga county deputies each made two boating while intoxicated arrests while Fulton County had one.
Stewart said like road patrols, boat officers look for tell-tale signs that a person may be under the influence, such as reckless operation or if they get a complaint from another boater out on the waters.
“There really is no difference,” he said.
Apple said often times, boaters who are unsafe will wind up
drawing officers to them because it’s easier to see it out in the open.
“We don’t care if you drink on a boat, but if you are navigating it, don’t touch it,” he said.
The # OperationSoberBoater campaign is sponsored by Saratoga Eagle. Jeff Vukelic, the president of the beverage distributor, said posters will be going up around the Capital Region reminding people to be safe on the waters. He also encouraged boaters to use the hashtag in the name if posting on social media to raise awareness for the campaign.
“It’s not that we want people to not drink on their boats, but we want to change the culture of the drinking,” he said.