Waterway citations on the rise

Kootenai County waterway citations are up 40% from last year after a busy holiday weekend on the water.

Between Friday and Monday, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office Marine Division logged nearly 700 hours of patrol time. Still, Sheriff Bob Norris said there “simply aren’t enough deputies” to patrol the hundreds of miles of navigable waterways and a growing number of boaters. 

“It’s been very busy,” Norris said Wednesday. “One deputy said they had never seen as many boats on the water the evening of July 4. It looked like a sea of boats from Tubbs Hill to past Gozzer (Ranch).” 

To keep up with safety demands, KCSO partnered with the U.S. Coast Guard for Independence Day deployment. Between the two agencies, every KCSO patrol vessel was deployed on nearly every waterway in the county. 

During the almost 700 hours of logged patrol, KCSO reported:

• About 1,000 citizen contacts

• About 20 calls for service

• 263 safety inspections

• Over 500 warnings

• 49 citations, and 

• 13 Operating Under the Influence citations 

“We’re up about 40% in OUIs and (other) citations from last year,” Norris said. “We attribute that to the amount of vessel activity seen on the waterways and our posture of enforcement — that hazardous, dangerous vessel activity will get you a citation.” 

To date, the KCSO Marine Division has written over 160 citations and made 21 OUI arrests, a news release said. Citations vary from operating too close to another vessel or structure to vehicle licensing and registration. 

“We’re going to continue this level of enforcement throughout the summer and maintain the aggressive push against dangerous vessel operations,” the sheriff said. 

No injuries were reported during the Fourth of July weekend, the release stated, and only two boat crashes were recorded — one in Sun-Up Bay, the other a sunken vessel near Tubbs Hill. Norris said KCSO has set a goal of zero deaths or serious injuries in the 2021 boating season — a plan they can only achieve through public awareness. 

“Our marine team is the best marine team in the nation,” Norris said in the release. “Keeping people safe on the waterways is our goal, and we will continue doing so throughout the summer.”