By AARON ROVENSTINE
Kosciusko County Sheriff

KOSCIUSKO — This month’s question comes from Turkey Creek Township, and the resident asks about our Lake Patrol and its visibility on Syracuse Lake.

Before I give our Lake Patrol Coordinator Sgt. Jon Tyler’s answer to that question, I would like to take a look back at the history of the Sheriff’s Departments Lake Patrol.

Our Lake Patrol has been around in one form or another for 60 years and started on Lake Wawasee. Its current form started in the early 1970s under Sheriff John Hammersley and was coordinated by Lt. Thomas E. Kitch, who would lead the lake patrol for the next 30 years.

Kitch put together a fine group of dedicated officers that served the Wawasee Lake area admirably for many years. That group included retired Elkhart County Deputy Warren Swartz, Richard (Dick) Waterson, Terry McCarty and Don McCulloch. There were many more, but this was the core group that served many years. This group, along with a strong lake association, acquired resources for equipment, training and endless hours of patrolling our counties lakes.

Kosciusko County has over 100 lakes which come under the jurisdiction of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, and we supply deputies as a supplement to their officers. In the summer months in particular it is safe to say that our resources stretch to their limits.

Terry Mccarty, Unknown, Richard (Dick) Waterson

The current Lake Patrol Coordinator is Sgt.  Jon Tyler, and he advises the Sheriff’s Department Lake Patrol in a cooperative effort between the local lake associations and the department. The department provides the training, public safety equipment and law enforcement authority to volunteer officers (special deputies). These lake patrol officers come directly from the ranks of the lake associations, in this case the Wawasee Property Owners Association and the Syracuse Lake Association. The lake associations provide the manpower, the boats, and maintain the boats used in this cooperative effort.

Over the past decade, the lake patrol officers have annually averaged over 930 hours of patrol activity and made contact with an average of over 803 boaters each summer season. There are just over 4,000 boats registered on Wawasee and Syracuse Lakes. Anecdotally, we likely have contact with each boat once every five seasons. During holidays, it’s worth noting that our lake patrol officers will patrol their regular hours and provide additional security and safety for lake activities such as fireworks displays and flotillas.

Shown during what is believed to be the donation of a lake patrol boat. Shown in the boat are lake patrol officers Warren Swartz, Don McCulloch, Joe Thornburg, Terry McCarty and Tom Kitch. On shore the only individuals known are Jane Nearing and Sheriff Al Rovenstine, far right.

In 2010, the Syracuse Lake Association added a patrol boat to their lake patrol activities. Since that time, this boat has logged an average of 189 hours of patrol time each summer and over 940 hours of patrol time since it was put in service.

I hope that answers some of the questions about the history and activities of our dedicated Lake Patrol. As always if you would like to submit a question for the Ask-the-Sheriff column e-mail [email protected].

Shown are Tom Kitch, Terry McCarty, Joe Thornburg, and Carl Myrick