Five years since Cleveland Police ended water patrols due to budget concerns, a new presence on the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie is being established, with local officials hoping it will serve as a national model for border protection.
The Marine Patrol Team program is a co-operative agreement between several federal and state agencies, Cuyahoga County and the cities of Cleveland, Euclid, & Lakewood.
40 officers are being trained to operate the team's new federally funded quarter-million-dollar boat, a 27-foot Boston Whaler that will inspect vessels, marinas and infrastructure, while also patrolling the county's portion of the lakefront.
The operation is fully funded by Ohio Homeland Security, and the officers here will work in tandem with agencies operating other boats out of Lorain and Ottawa counties... that are part of the government's Northern Border Initiative.
Ohio Homeland Security Executive Director Bill Vedra says that cooperation is key ....to regional security.
BILL VEDRA: "Terrorists and criminals... they don't recognize borders. It's important that this community, this area of our state recognizes that too, and are building the partnerships and cooperation necessary to secure our state, and our cities, and our country."
Vedra declined to say whether any new, credible, terrorism threats have spurred the creation of the new patrol.
Rick Jackson, 90.3.
