Today’s monthly luncheon of the Brownwood Area Chamber of Commerce featured Brownwood Lake Patrol Chief Mark Davis, who spoke about various changes and improvements in the Lake Patrol over the past few years.

Davis grew up in California, “but I got to Texas as quickly as I could.”  He spent some time with the Sheriff’s Department of Williamson County, before moving to Brown County and joining the Sheriff’s Department here.  He subsequently was hired by the Brown County Water Improvement District as Chief of the Lake Patrol Department.

“When I took over the Department, the first thing I did was I looked at our Department’s capabilities as related to public safety, and tried to view it with a public safety mindset.  The task was to improve on this by asking questions like ‘How can we serve the Lake community as it relates to public safety and keep a customer service mindset? And how can we have a positive influence on safety in general across the lake?’ Coming from the Sheriff’s office I was aware of some of the public safety challenges facing the year-round residents of the Lake Brownwood community, as well as the challenges facing our Patrol Officers when dealing with non-resident visitors or violators.”

Davis said he then began an assessment of the Lake Patrol Department, drilling down on topics such as Department capabilities, Officer capabilities, and equipment.  “One of the challenges I found that existed was in training… This was not a surprise to me.  Training is one of the leading issues or deficits of most, if not all, Law Enforcement agencies.”  Davis then began an intense training program, with the full support of the District’s General Manager John Allen and the District’s Board of Directors.  Some of the training topics accomplished include:  Active Shooter, Intermediate Evidence Collection, Crime Scene, Boating Under the Influence, Driving Under the Influence, Defensive Pistol and Handgun, TASER, Background Investigations, Pepper Spray, Marine Enforcement Safety Officer, Helicopter and Air Operations, First Aid, Mental Health, Canine Encounters, Basic Boat Operations, Boating Enforcement, Underwater Dive Training, CPR, and Basic Firefighting.

Davis then listed some of the equipment improvements acquired:  a permanent helicopter landing pad, for use in medical emergencies; a Firefighting/Rescue Boat; advanced first aid kits in all Lake Patrol boats, spotlights in all Lake Patrol boats, and a Spillway Firearms Range Facility for firearms training.  “Subsequently the Range Facility has become a regional training facility for Parks and Wildlife, DPS, Brown County Sheriff’s Office, Brownwood Police Department, and the Bangs and Early ISD Guardian programs.”

The Lake Patrol has also instituted a physical fitness program.  Yearly physical fitness assessment is required as outlined by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement.  Davis said they hope to have a Lake Patrol dive team in the future.  It could be used for underwater inspections of Water District equipment (pumps, pipes, etc.), and also for rescue operations and underwater evidence collection.

Chief Davis began the program with some Lake Brownwood statistics:  The Lake Patrol has four officers.  Lake Brownwood has about 1,100 floating docks.  And the following are average annual figures:

Average annual visitors to Lake Brownwood: 9,000

Average number of boats on Lake Brownwood: 6,000

Lake Patrol contact with visitors: 2,000

Calls for Lake Patrol service: 200

Boat inspections performed: 290

Dock inspections performed: 790

Driving Under the Influence/Boating Under the Influence citations: 45

Drug Arrests: 3-4

Offense reports: 60 – 70

Warnings Issued: 120

Fishing tournaments hosted: 30 – 35.