Marine Unit
In 1949, Essex Police launched a specialist marine division to police the county's waterways and coastline. More than seventy years on and this specialist unit is still preventing crime, catching criminals and protecting the people of Essex.
Today, the unit polices 562 miles of waterways and coastlines from the Thames at Crayford Ness to the River Stour in Manningtree, working closely with partners such as the RNLI, the National Crime Agency, Port of London Authority, Border Force and the Coastguard Agency.
Here to help our marine communities
With the second-longest coastline in the country, there’s a lot to keep the Essex Police Marine Unit busy.
Their top priority is keeping our marine communities safe on land and in the water – whether that be out at sea, on our rivers and waterways or in the various marinas and moorings around the county.
With our launch, the Alert IV, and Sentinel, a rigid-hulled inflatable boat known as a rib, our team patrols the coastline all the way from Mistley in north Essex, down past Harwich, Clacton and Southend, and along the Thames to Crayford Ness, just past the Dartford River Crossing.
While we take a great interest in our major ports at Harwich, Tilbury and London Gateway on the Thames, as well as smaller ones like Brightlingsea, the majority of the team’s work focuses on anyone who uses the water along our coast and rivers.
This doesn’t only mean boat-owners but paddleboarders, canoeists and kayakers, kite-surfers and people using personal watercraft, in fact, anyone who uses the water for leisure.
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The Alert IV mored at Burnham-on-Crouch -
Chief Constable BJ Harrington talks about keeping our marine communities safe with PC Daren Chambers. -
Chief Constable BJ Harrington boards the Alert IV -
Essex Police Marine Unit pennant is raised -
Chief Insp Darren Deex, PFCC Roger Hirst, Maldon Council Leader Wendy Stamp and Chief Constable BJ Harrington on board Alert IV -
Alert IV on the water -
Inside the Alert IV -
Alert IV returns to the marina at Burnham-on-Crouch. -
Navigating the Alert IV on the River Crouch -
Marine technician, Julian Plummer working on the Sentinel - a rigid-hulled inflatable boat -
The Sentinel on The River Thames -
The Alert IV and the Sentinel on The River Thames
You can keep up-to-date with what the Marine Unit by following them on Twitter.
For more information about the Marine Unit, you can click on the links below.
