Port of Los Angeles’ Maritime Law Enforcement Training Center receives grant to reimburse training maritime officers

LOS ANGELES—As one of only two maritime police training facilities in the nation, one can imagine the value of Maritime Law Enforcement Training Center (MLETC) in Los Angeles. During a special board meeting, Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners approved a three-way agreement between California’s Department of Parks and Recreations, Division of Boating and Waterways (DBW), and the city of Los Angeles Harbor Department for the reimbursement of costs accrued, with the maximum amount equaling $388,277.84 over a 820-day term, from law enforcement training classes at MLETC.

Commissioner Edward R. Renwick offered his kudos to MLETC for their efforts in acquiring the grant, which he considered “part of MLE’s strategy that is proving to be effective.”

Renwick continued: “No look, two years ago we were subsidizing the rest of the state in educating their officers on water safety and water policing. You know, we want to do that and we have one of the leading centers, one of two in all of America, for police to be licensed for water safety policing and we charge the chief and his team. It was great that we were making the world a better place, but we were eating the full cost and not getting paid for it. And we charged the chief with figuring out a way we can be reimbursed for this and this is a tremendous improvement.”

DBW will ultimately reimburse the amount for training officers from within California under the agreement.

Courses at MLETC in collaboration with DBW include Basic Maritime Officer’s Course, Advanced Maritime Officer’s Course and Boating Accident Investigation. The courses range from three to 10 days of intensive training geared towards advancing policing protocol on the waterfront.

According to DBW’s 2019 Calendar, the Basic Maritime Officer’s Course entails: “A ten day course, 80-hour POST certified course for newly assigned marine patrol officers having designated authority under Chapter 4.5 of the California Penal Code who are (or will be) actively enforcing California boating laws. This course was designed for the newly assigned officer/deputy and will cover boating terminology, boat handling skills, navigation, weather, boating law, trailering, launching, recovery, marlinespike, vessel stops, response to emergencies, and water survival.”

In order to enroll in the program, participants must be assigned to a marine patrol unit or expected to be assigned soon.

For more information, visit dbw.parks.ca.gov/DBWSignup/LawEnforcementTraining.