Crime & Safety

Old Lyme Gets a New Police Boat

The 2002 police boat is being donated to Old Lyme by the towns of Chester and Haddam, which no longer use it.

Old Lyme's Police Department is soon to be the proud recipient of a slightly used 20 foot long Pioneer police boat—and it will cost the town absolutely nothing.

The police patrol boat is being donated to Old Lyme by the towns of Chester and Haddam, which currently share the use of the boat. The police boat was originally bought in 2002 by Connecticut Yankee and given to the towns to patrol the area around its decommissioned nuclear power plant. The boat is no longer used much by either town because of police manpower issues.

The patrol boat currently used by Old Lyme Police was purchased in the 1980s. It's nearing the end of its useful lifespan and the hull is not in great shape, Old Lyme First Selectwoman Bonnie Reemsnyder said at last night's Board of Selectmen meeting.

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Reemsnyder said the 2002 police boat, which also comes with a 2002 Karavan trailer, will be used to patrol town waterways and beef up patrols at Sound View beach.   

The Pioneer boat isn't as sturdy as Old Lyme's current boat and wouldn't be ideal for rough weather but, as Reemsnyder pointed out, when the weather is bad there's not much need for an increased police presence on the water because few boaters are out then either.

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The town hasn't yet decided what it's going to do with the boat it now uses but the offer of a newer boat was too good to turn down—and you really can't beat the price.

The new police boat purchased earlier this year (and pictured here on the Niantic River) which is used by East Lyme and Waterford cost $520,000, although it was paid for by a grant from Homeland Security.


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