GREEN BAY, Wis. — With a loud splash, the training got underway.


What You Need To Know

  • Northeast Wisconsin Technical College launched a course aimed at helping train the state’s law enforcement officers in water patrol
  • It teaches skills ranging from knot tying and rope stowage to boat operations and assisting people in distress
  • Another class is scheduled for August in Door County​

About 20 law enforcement officers from around Wisconsin went to work pulling the simulated victim back into their boat.

It was part of a new Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NTWC) course designed to help officers beef up — and learn — their skills on the water.

That group includes students like Joe Merrill, a community police officer with the Green Bay Police Department.

“This training is pretty fundamental for a marine officer to build up your confidence in not only operating the boat but also in keeping your crew and any civilians safe,” he said as he guided the police boat into a marina.

Deputies and police officers from around the state learned new aquatic skills, from line handling and basic boat operation to pulling people in distress out of the water.

Jason Weber, the public safety training coordinator at NWTC, said the class aimed at reniforcing and teaching some of the basic skills officers encounter when working on the water.

“For the most part with these boat units, they’re proactive, so they're out there working on preventing stuff,” he said. “They’re going to be the first ones there to rescue a swimmer or assist a boater in distress. The more knowledge they can have, the more technical skills they have, the better off we’ll all be.”

It’s part of a wider effort by the college to build the region and state’s maritime workforce. It was recently designated a Center of Excellence for Domestic Maritime Workforce Training and Education by the federal government.

“We currently do a lot of work in shipbuilding. In our region that’s a huge industry for us, but also the public safety side and the port side," said NWTC dean of corporate training and economic development Meridith Jaeger. “The designation will allow us to build upon our foundation, what we’re already doing.”

Merrill said the class is a way to brush up on skills, and bring new skills back for the officers he works with.

“This is going to be good to bring back to the team. We’ve learned some new — marlinspike — which is rope tying and equipment maintenance,” he said. “That’s something we didn’t have before. I’ll be able to bring that back to the team and show them new ways to do knots and bends to secure the boat.”