GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Training is an essential part of the job for the police. Thursday morning was the monthly training of a specialized unit that heads out in the water.
“As long as you can breathe, as long as you have air, you’re okay,” said Lieutenant Steve Mahoney of the Green Bay Police Department.
The Green Bay Police Department holds its Dive Team training at Zeller’s Ski and Sports.
The 15-member team consists of divers and tenders. On this day they practice the recovery of a sunken automobile in 25 feet of water on the Fox River.
“We pulled the car out there and let it sink so our divers could practice hooking up airbags to the car to lift it up to be able to recover the car,” added Lieutenant Mahoney.
Divers complete psychological assessment training before joining the team and often trade off each hour in their efforts, to avoid risk of injury.
Lieutenant Mahoney says officer safety is the priority, knowing decompression sickness can occur in only 10 feet of water.
“…something is happening to them, where their heart rate’s going up. They’re in distress so, once we start hearing that… we evaluate it and if we need to pull them out, we will,” said Lieutenant Mahoney.
The team also uses boats and sonar units in its missions.
Lieutenant Mahoney says the area rivers the team primarily serves present challenges with three different currents to consider and drops of between 30 and 40 feet in this area alone.
Divers search through murky waters with only up to six to eight inches of visibility, with 60 pounds of weight on their back.
The dry suits keep officers clean from contaminated water.
Patrol Officer Jeff Stone, a diver on the team, joined the team shortly after it was formed in 2005.
“We’re able to get better gear, better equipment, more training so, it’s really interesting to see from where we started to where we’re at now,” added Patrol Officer Jeff Stone.
The team’s diver certifications include emergency response, ice, and explosive search diving, as well as, evidence collection, and lift and salvage.
A 30-foot Pierce Dive truck allows all gear to be mobile in the event of a response requirement.
This multi-county team can suit up in as little as five minutes and will go anywhere in the state if help is needed.
“The joy is, you know you’ve completed your mission. You know you’re gonna be able to bring closure to the family,” added Lieutenant Mahoney.
The department has plans to gain its Federal Emergency Management Agency certification so that it may respond nationwide.
