Trumbull deputies to patrol Mosquito Lake again this year with help from state funds

Staff report

WARREN

Major Jeff Palmer of the Trumbull County Sheriff’s office says getting approved for another round of state funding for a marine patrol at Mosquito Lake State Park is evidence deputies are “doing the program right.”

The county commissioners are expected to authorize paying matching funds of $9,677 at their meeting today. The state will provide $29,025.

Palmer, who supervises deputies, said the department has received the same grant for several years.

It pays for deputies to work weekends and holidays on overtime throughout the warm months to augment the patrols provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Watercraft on the lake and in the park.

The sheriff’s office plans to have deputies to work on and around the lake at the busiest times for people to visit the lake, such as Independence Day, Palmer said.

Six deputies are trained and certified for the work and work on a boat and in cruisers.

They can write citations for drunken driving, possessing an open container of alcohol, disorderly conduct and can even carry out a boat pursuit or handle boat accidents or fires.

Deputies can administer field sobriety tests to boaters, though the types of testing done are different on the water than on land, Palmer said.

But more of what they do is educate the public on boat safety and provide boat inspections, Palmer said, adding that they are also able to help stranded boaters.

If a boater is behaving irresponsibly, it can negatively affect boaters who are being responsible, Palmer noted.

“By being re-approved, it says [deputies] are doing the program right,” Palmer said.