Police watercraft are boats or other vessels that are used by

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

agencies to patrol bodies of water. They are usually employed on major rivers, in enclosed

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

s near cities or in places where a stronger presence than that offered by the harbormaster or

coast guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

is needed. Police boats sometimes have high-performance engines in order to catch up with fleeing fugitives on the water. They have been used since the beginning of the 20th century.1903 New York Harbor Police boat patrol capturing pirates

Types of police boats

Patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

Motorboat A motorboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine; faster examples may be called "speedboats". Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the inter ...

* Airboat * Rigid-hulled inflatable boat

Gallery of police boats

Image:Bermuda Police Marine Section boats.jpg, Boats of the Bermuda Police Service Marine Section at Barr's Bay Image:Einsatzboot "Bremen 1".jpg, Combined police/

fireboat A fireboat or Fire-float Pyronaut, fire-float is a specialized watercraft with pumps and nozzles designed for fighting shoreline and shipboard fires. The first fireboats, dating to the late 18th century, were tugboats, retrofitted with ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Image:Helsinki Boat Police 491 492 493.jpg, Police patrol boats in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Image:Aa policeboat liverpool 00.jpg, Police boat,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, October 2009 Image:Police.boat.london.arp.jpg, London Metropolitan Police boat ''Gabriel Franks'' on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

in 2005 Image:Police boat on River Thames.JPG, London Metropolitan Police boat ''John Harriott IV'' on the Thames Image:Nina Mackay II.JPG, London Metropolitan Police boat ''Nina Mackay II'' on the Thames in 2013 Image:Los Angeles Port Police (cropped).jpg, SAFE Boats 33' RIB of the Los Angeles Port Police Image:De P93 in de Helsluis Voorhaven buitenkant (02).JPG, Netherlands Police boats in the Biesbosch in 2008 Image:Working for the KLPD (03).JPG, Netherlands Police jet ski on the Lek 2012. Image:Australian Police vessel Nemesis.jpg, New South Wales Police Force vessel OPV ''Nemesis'' Image:APEC Police Boat, Sydney Harbour, 2 Sept 2007.JPG,

New South Wales Police Force The New South Wales Police Force is a law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia, established in 1862. With more than 17,000 police officers, it is the largest police organisation in Australia, policing an area of 801,60 ...

boat patrolling Port Jackson. Image:Anti terrorism in Venice.jpg, Anti terrorism Police boat in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Image:Israeli maritime police Defender-class boat Hazon and water scooter in Eilat Marina.jpg, Israeli maritime police Defender-class boat Hazon and water scooter in

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

Marina,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

References

External links

{{Commonscat-inline, Police watercraft Boat types

Watercraft A watercraft or waterborne vessel is any vehicle designed for travel across or through water bodies, such as a boat, ship, hovercraft, submersible or submarine. Types Historically, watercraft have been divided into two main categories. *Raf ...

Types of police boats

Gallery of police boats

See also

References

External links