South Carolina agency coordinates law enforcement efforts with NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement
By W. Thomas Smith Jr.
AS SPRING TURNS TO SUMMER and South Carolina vacationers’ thoughts turn to the Palmetto State’s 187 miles of pristine coastline, so too does the S.C. Department of Natural Resources’ (SCDNR’s) law-enforcement arm within SCDNR’s Region Four, essentially eight counties from the Little River-Myrtle Beach area to Hilton Head and the S.C. side of the Savannah River.
Not that SCDNR Region-4 isn’t actively patrolling, enforcing the law, protecting lives and conserving wildlife and marine resources year ‘round. They are. But the always-swelling beachgoing population within S.C.’s coastal counties is an added dynamic in Summer with increased boating, fishing, swimming and other watersports.
SCDNR’s Law enforcement (LE) responsibilities along the coast are enormous and varied. And it’s not simply 187 miles: The state’s tidal shoreline includes all of our offshore islands, sounds, bays, rivers, and creeks, extending the actual shoreline to just under 2,900 miles.
“This is a tremendous coastal and offshore responsibility deftly undertaken by the men and women of SCDNR law enforcement not including those LE officers [game wardens] operating in our other three regions,” says SCDNR Director Tom Mullikin, the newly sworn head of the 1,100-employee agency including approximately 350 SCDNR law enforcement personnel. “Our law enforcement officers are trained and equipped for the full-spectrum of public safety and conservation missions from the mountains to the sea.”
That they are, and on the S.C. coast that includes from the physical shoreline and points inland to three nautical miles offshore.
SCDNR has full autonomous jurisdiction from the beach to three miles out. Beyond the three-mile limit, SCDNR LE officers are authorized to board vessels out to the 220-mile exclusion zone in order to enforce federal regulations.
The three-mile to 220-mile jurisdiction is conducted through a Joint Enforcement Agreement (JEA) between NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) and SCDNR. Yes, NOAA has a law enforcement arm, referred to by SCDNR LE officers as NOAA OLE (aka the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement), but NOAA OLE is stretched thin in terms of personnel. Consequently, SCDNR LE officers are federally trained and authorized – through NOAA – to board vessels out to 220 miles and enforce federal regulations. Other coastal states have similar agreements.
When a violation is discovered off S.C’s coast between three miles and the exclusion zone, S.C.’s waterborne game wardens do not charge violators; they document the violation and forward it to NOAA for prosecution.
“The JEA agreement demonstrates the excellent working relationship between our state, extra-state, and federal partner agencies,” says Director Mullikin.
SCDNR Captain Dennetta Dawson, captain (commander) of Region Four, agrees.
“We can also pursue suspects that we are already pursuing – on land or water – up to three miles inside the Georgia or North Carolina line.”
Dawson adds: “We primarily deal with recreational boaters whereas Coast Guard deals primarily with commercial vessels. But we coordinate efforts with Coast Guard under a memorandum of understanding not unlike the JEA agreement with have with NOAA. On the state side, our efforts are mostly boating-safety enforcement and fisheries enforcement.”
SCDNR also has Aviation assets (aircraft) which support their waterborne and inland operations.
First Sergeant Garrett Hering, SCDNR Saltwater Unit supervisor in Region Four, says: “From the shoreline to three miles out is state water. That’s where we wear our proverbial state hats if you will. In those closer-to-shore waters we can issue warnings and tickets. We also inspect and enforce boating safety laws and regulations [including possible boating under the influence or BUI violations], and state fisheries regulations.”
We are conservation law enforcement,” Hering adds. “So our special niche is fins, fur and feathers.”
According to Dawson, SCDNR law enforcement is responsible for ensuring everyone’s physical safety and making sure everyone adheres to S.C.’s wildlife and fisheries laws and regulations.
“We have to be vigilant,” she says. “The vast majority of the people we encounter are good guys, but many of them by virtue of their being hunters are armed.”
Dawson adds: “We are always going to make sure folks are safe and properly educated as to what they need to do to remain safe – everything from having flotation devices in their boats to signaling devices, whistles, flares, what have you. At the end of the day, public safety – land and sea – is our single most-important responsibility.”
– For more information, please visit the S.C. Department of Natural Resources at dnr.sc.gov
