Fla. police add boat to fleet purchased with seized money

By Eliot Kleinberg
Palm Beach Post

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — The bad guys on the briny have yet another foe to consider.

It's a sleek white 32-footer with twin 300-horsepower outboards, top-of-the-line electronics, and, on top, a flashing blue and white light and a really loud speaker through which the two men aboard can shout, "Boynton Beach police."

This month, the department showed off its newest weapon, the Seazed Assets.

"We're still playing with it. Haven't taken it full out," Marine Unit Officer Gregg Koch said as he sat in the boat last week at a dock at Harvey E. Oyer Jr. Park. Alongside him, at the controls, was partner Darin Hederian.

The punny name, picked after an online naming competition, refers to the fact the $145,000 boat wasn't paid for by city taxpayers, but by the very people it's designed to pursue.

Money came from the police Law Enforcement Trust Fund, a collection of proceeds from property or money seized from criminals. Most of it came from the auctioning off of six seized boats plus several stolen boat motors whose owners couldn't be found.

"Assets" was custom-built over four months by Contender Boats in Homestead. Bluewater Towers in Boynton Beach donated a T-top, freeing up about $5,000 the city used to buy state-of-the art GPS, radio and radar equipment.

For a decade, the marine unit has been using a boat seized from criminals; lately, "it's been down in repairs all the time," Koch said.

The department first looked into a new boat back in 2009, but it wasn't until November that city commissioners approved the purchase.

The marine patrol once had four officers, but had to move two back to regular patrol because of budget concerns. Commissioner David Merker is one of several elected officials who took a ride May 17. He said he'd like the department to find a way to go back to four officers.

"The crime on the water and on the beach and on the sand is increasing," Merker said at the commission's May 20 meeting.

The unit works the Intracoastal Waterway and open ocean between Delray Beach and the Boynton Inlet, but often goes to waters outside that to help other agencies, including the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, the U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Distress calls, Koch said, still are the most common incidents, followed by homeland security responses; suspicious boats that might be carrying smuggled drugs or people, or worse.

The need for the boat "speaks for itself," Hederian said. "Boynton Beach has water in its backyard."

"Assets" can go up to 60 mph; "it brings us to a level playing field," Hederian said. "They (criminals) steal their boats. They have a better selection."

Koch and Hederian came to the posting with years of pleasure-boating experience, and each took two 40-hour advanced tactical boating classes.

They have done this now for six years. Many would figure they have a dream job, working in shorts and polo shirts out on the water. But Koch said it doesn't seem that way when they're in the open ocean in brutal heat, or in rolling seas, or in blinding rain, or in complete and terrifying darkness when running lights fail at night, miles from the glow of the coast, and all they have is a flashlight.

On top of that, while a patrol car can approach a suspect vehicle carefully, call for backup, and stay far from the driver for safety, the marine unit has to tie right alongside the boat it's checking out, which can be pretty scary, Koch said.

"We can't run from anyone," he said, "We can't retreat that easy."

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