The Village of Freeport and its Police Department officially placed into operation a new state-of-the-art marine patrol vessel on May 28, designed to make significant improvements to public safety on Long Island’s waterways and Freeport’s shores.
The village obtained the new patrol vessel after being awarded a $250,000 grant courtesy of former State Sen. Kevin Thomas, who represented Nassau County’s 6th District, from 2019 to 2024. The village placed the order for the boat about a year and a half ago, according to Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy, and the vessel finally arrived from the state of Washington in January of this year.
“Senator Thomas saved our residents a quarter of a million dollars, which would have been over $200 a resident to pay for that boat,” Kennedy said.
The Village of Freeport, which is home to the largest recreational boating fleet in Nassau County, continues to expand its marine safety and emergency response capabilities as boating accidents and fatalities, especially those resulting from operating boats while drunk, remain a concern on Long Island.
Freeport police officers will work with the Nassau County Police Department Marine Bureau, the Town of Hempstead Bay Constable, the U.S. Coast Guard, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and local fire departments. Primary patrol season begins in May and will go through October, although the vessel will remain on call year-round.
“Every year we hear of accidental drownings,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said when previously discussing water safety. “Don’t drink and pilot your boat. You will get arrested. It is illegal. It’s the same thing as driving while intoxicated.”
The 23-foot Life-Proof center console patrol vessel was specifically designed for emergency rescues, law enforcement operations and rapid-response missions in canals, bays, marshes and shores, making it ideal for the Freeport Police Department.
“The (previous) vessel we had was 25 years old,” the mayor explained. “It’s been costing an abundance of money to repair and maintain it … We really needed a vessel that has up-to-date radio equipment, radar, GPSs, lights and sirens and communication equipment.”
Additionally, the new police boat comes equipped with a 300-horsepower Mercury engine capable of speeds exceeding 50 miles per hour.
Each summer hundreds of boats and other water vehicles pass through the Jones Inlet, about a half mile from where the police department first launched its new boat, at the Guy Lombardo Marina.
Even though the U.S. Coast Guard announced its fewest reported boating fatalities nationwide in more than 50 years last July, Mayor Kennedy and the Freeport Police Department remain vigilant on further ensuring water safety, with patrols scheduled for six days a week.
“There’s a lot of vessels going out of the inlet,” Kennedy said. “You can sink, get into an accident or something, so you have to have a quick response. We have a brand-new boat now that gets us out, gets the police officers there safe and gets the people back into the harbor.”
