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The Portland Police Department may use a Homeland Security grant to buy a Protector like the model above. The Maine Marine Patrol has three of the high-speed boats.

The Portland Police Department might use a $225,000 Homeland Security grant to buy its first patrol boat.

On Tuesday, Commander Michael Sauschuck told the City Council's Public Safety Committee that the department plans to have the boat in operation next summer. On Thursday, however, he said the department has yet to decide whether to buy a boat.

"We may not utilize the grant," he said. "But we are exploring whether or not to go forward with this project."

Steven Scharf, head of the Portland Taxpayers Association, said the Police Department does not need its own boat and should hand the $225,000 grant right back to the federal government.

"My response is to laugh," he said. "It's ludicrous that the city of Portland should buy a police boat. I think these are government people who want more toys, and the toys will cost us money."

Although the boat might appear to be a free gift from the federal government, there would be long-term costs for maintenance and operation, Scharf said.

Sauschuck said police now depend on the Fire Department's fireboat and rescue boats for rides to city-owned islands in Casco Bay to deal with emergencies.

With its own boat, he said, the department could transport officers to potentially violent situations, such as drug interdictions, without putting firefighters in danger. He said a patrol boat could also support the police dive team.

"It will enhance our mission for homeland security as well as law enforcement," he said. "It's very exciting, and it's great news we were approved."

Sauschuck said a patrol boat would not require a special police unit.

He said the department has established a committee of officers to study whether to buy the boat, what kind of boat to purchase and operational and training issues.

Because the grant is earmarked for port security, it could not be used for homeland security functions other than buying a patrol boat, said Assistant City Manager Pat Finnigan.

Now that the Police Department has the funding in place, she said, it can examine whether buying a patrol boat makes sense. Although the City Council would not have to approve the purchase, Police Chief James Craig plans to work with the Public Safety Committee, Finnigan said.

Michael Richards, chairman of the Peaks Island Council, said a patrol boat would be a great addition because islanders could use it to travel to Portland hospitals for non-life threatening medical emergencies rather than having to rely on a Fire Department rescue boat.

He noted that Long Island, which is its own municipality, uses its own boat for that purpose and rarely has to rely on a Portland Fire Department boat.

Richards said Peaks Island would be an ideal base of operations for the patrol boat because of its central location in Casco Bay. It would reduce travel time to Portland because the boat would already be at Peaks, he said.

For $225,000, the department could buy a Protector, a 28-foot center-console boat built to travel at high speeds in rugged sea conditions. The Maine Marine Patrol has three Protectors.

Marine Patrol, a state agency, enforces Maine law in coastal waters, including boating safety laws and fishing regulations. It keeps two boats in Portland Harbor: a 46-foot open-stern boat that carries a 16-foot rescue skiff, and a 30-foot Protector during the summer.

The U.S. Coast Guard in South Portland has two 47-foot rescue boats and two 25-foot response boats. It also has three vessels, used for tending buoys, that can be deployed in emergencies.

The Fire Department currently has four boats: a rescue boat, a rescue skiff and two fireboats, one of which is scheduled to be sold once the city's new $3.2 million fireboat is repaired. The new fireboat was damaged Saturday when it hit a submerged ledge.

Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at:

tbell@pressherald.com