Westchester County PD Marine Unit to step up BWI patrols over July 4 weekend

They say there’s going to be a lot of boat traffic over the holiday and they’re going to be looking to make sure people have all the required safety equipment on board. They will also be patrolling for intoxicated boaters. They say a 0.08 blood-alcohol content can get you a BWI charge.

News 12 Staff

Jul 2, 2022, 3:14 PM

Updated 824 days ago

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The Westchester County Police Department Marine Unit told News 12 that it would be keeping a close watch on boaters to keep everyone safe this weekend.
They say there’s going to be a lot of boat traffic over the holiday and they’re going to be looking to make sure people have all the required safety equipment on board. They will also be patrolling for intoxicated boaters. They say a 0.08 blood-alcohol content can get you a BWI charge.
"We'll make a heavy concentration this weekend on any vessels we encounter for safety inspections to make sure they have their [personal floatation devices]," said Sgt. John Butcher.
Police will also be checking boats on the water for fire-extinguishers, flares, and proper registration documents.
"As opposed to an equipment violation, which could happen to anybody, when you talk about a no-wake-zone or those types of violations -- those are operator-based violations which are based on their judgement and their orientation of where they are -- which tend to be more of an indicator of intoxication as opposed to a registration violation," added Butcher.
Westchester County police said they will be patrolling the Long Island Sound and Hudson River all weekend.