Are Dana Point Boaters satisfied with Harbor Patrol services?

A while back DPBA surveyed over 400 boaters regarding various aspects of the operation of our harbor. Regarding Harbor Patrol services, the message was clear. Dana Point Boaters highly value the services provided by our Harbor Patrol!
89.2% of boaters were at least satisfied with the services provided and 39.4% were more than satisfied. Less than 3% were completely unsatisfied, while seven times that number, 21% were very pleased overall.
Without question, the Dana Point Harbor Patrol deserves our full support. It is not broken and should not be "fixed".
What about budget related opportunities?
We agree with the study group point that there may be ways to economize, reduce Harbor Patrol costs and/or increase revenues, especially outside Dana Point where there is already a funding shortfall. In the spirit of good governance, especially during these difficult economic times, DPBA would support further careful study of potential means to improve efficiency and lower operational costs for the Harbor Patrol operations, in all County harbors, just as we would also support such efforts were they focused on land based Sheriff Office operations.
However, any further study of Dana Point operations must, we repeat, MUST feature participation by a wide cross section of boaters with boats in Dana Point Harbor, as well as many of those tens of thousands of recreational boaters from throughout Orange County and Southern California who launch their boats at Dana Point Harbor.
What about additional funding alternatives?
Regarding the interest expressed by one County Supervisor in eliminating County General Fund funding of the Harbor Patrol, to instead have only the coastal cities where harbors are located foot the bills, we are frankly at a loss as to how this idea could even be rationalized. As just mentioned, boaters (and non-boaters too) come from far and wide to use our harbors and ocean.
Further, it seems obvious that some also may not understand that the jurisdiction of the Harbor Patrol extends well outside the harbors in which their facilities are located. Let's set the record straight. This small team, which hasn't grown in 20 years despite huge growth in County wide population, is solely responsible for local on-water homeland security and drug enforcement (to the extent it is today being addressed within Orange County), as well as public safety and other on-water law enforcement services on the more than 126 square miles of ocean waters within Orange County.
An important observation: Orange County has 789 Square miles of land area and ~126 square miles of water area. The Harbor Patrol has 47 staff, slightly less than 0.4 officers per square mile of jurisdiction. The Sheriff department has ~1500 staff, or 1.9 officers per square mile. Of course most of Orange County is no longer under Sheriff Department jurisdiction so the real number is many times 1.9.
The point? When saving taxpayers' money is the apparent agenda, it would seem to make a lot more sense for OC BOS to focus instead on much larger savings "opportunities" elsewhere.
DPBA Recommendations
As was stated early on above, the source of OC BOS concern is County wide revenue shortfalls and runaway public safety pension funding. These are obviously not boating specific problems.
We therefore recommend that OC BOS continue to stay focused on solving these County wide problems. Not get sidetracked trying to make cuts within one very small, highly regarded department.
We also recommend, as a second priority with longer term potential payback, that OC BOS invest in public outreach, especially amongst recreational boaters, to better understand / appreciate harbor and coastal patrol issues. Do this rather than simply filing another report as has been done in the past. We firmly believe that this better understanding will benefit all County Government stakeholders as well as Orange County recreational boater taxpayers.
Your Board of Directors, The Dana Point Boaters Association
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