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GREENWICH, Conn. — As boaters took to the water last weekend, Greenwich police conducted Operation Dry Water to catch drunken operators but found no one under the influence, Lt. John Brown said.
Police made contact with 113 boats and 468 people. Eight warnings and one summons were given out for on-board safety violations. Brown said it was great that no boaters were found to be over the legal blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent.
"I think it's a combination of compliance and education," he said. "And word gets around that we're doing this."
Operation Dry Water is an education and enforcement initiative launched in 2009 by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators. In partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard, Operation Dry Water puts "thousands of local, state and federal marine law enforcement officers on the water just before the Fourth of July to give BUI enforcement high visibility before a holiday known for drinking and boating," according to a Greenwich Police Department statement.
Though it's new on the East Coast, Operation Dry Water is conducted in all 56 U.S states, trusts and territories, according to the statement. Even though Greenwich hasn't seen a drinking-induced boating accident in more than five years, the police department wanted to participate, Brown said.
"It's important that we show a unified front on the water," he said.
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