Wellington Police Maritime Unit aims to keep city waters safe

As Senior Sergeant Dave Houston swam out into the dark waters at Makara in pursuit of a group of poachers, he started to wonder what he'd do if he caught up with them.

Still wearing his shoes, Houston had leapt in after the group of four when they fled into the waves after being caught with half a tonne of shucked paua.

"They stopped, because I used to be quite a good swimmer. I was like 'uh oh, what do I do now?"

With a group of criminals beginning to circle him in the water in the dark, Houston realised he was not in a particularly strong position to take four people into custody.

"I said 'you win' and I just swam back to the shore."

Police were able to track down one of the men involved later, and were able to seize the paua and the boat, which turned out to be stolen.

Senior Sergeant Dave Houston has been heading out on the police boat for 20 years. Photo/Melissa Nightingale

It's just one of the tales Houston likes to tell about his time in the Wellington Police Maritime Unit.

He's been in the role for at least 20 years, in which time he's attended his fair share of rescues - for humans and animals alike.

"There's one where a dolphin, fishing line got around his tail . . . he was swimming around by the wharf. He'd been there for days and no one could do anything about trying to catch him to get it.

"I jumped in the water off one of the boats, had a knife with me, and I was in the water. The dolphin was just swimming around and around while I was in the water. I think he or she knew what I was trying to do."

Eventually the dolphin swam close enough for Houston to cut the line off its tail, where it had formed "a big sore".

What do they do?

Of course, the 12-person team at the Wellington unit have more to do than simply rescue marine animals and catch bad guys.

They work closely with other agencies on anything from search and rescue missions and dealing with accidents in the harbour to providing training and holding presentations on boat safety.

The 18.5m catamaran, Lady Elizabeth IV, is specially designed so it can also be used by other agencies, such as Customs and MPI.

Search and rescue is their "main bread and butter". There were 128 of these callouts for the Wellington Maritime Unit in the 2016-17 financial year.

The 18.5m catamaran, affectionately known as 'Lady Liz', is used by multiple agencies. Photo/Melissa Nightingale

Houston was pleased to see the number is dropping - from 171 the year before and 191 the year before that.

"We find that people are complying with the lifejackets, which is really good, it's fantastic."

Some of their callouts were from concerned members of the public who thought they'd spotted someone in the water.

"One person on the train, they said they saw a person in the water and we went out and we found it and it was a log," he said.

"It looked like a person, honestly it looked like a person . . . it was really freaky, it looked like it had limbs and everything."

Other searches were for missing divers.

Police could work out how far a person might have drifted in an hour, factoring in the wind and currents.

The unit once dropped a dummy in the water at Paekakariki, and in 30 hours it drifted 48km down to Wellington.

"People need to be aware these tides, they absolutely honk along there."

The police boat cruises about 30 knots. Photo/Melissa Nightingale

The team was called out once to rescue someone at Sinclair Head, but while still on the way to the job, they spotted the woman drifting near Island Bay.

"Someone looked out the window. 'Oh, there she is.'"

The job is full of public relations, working with other police groups to train them for on-water operations, enforcing exclusion zones for boaties, and dealing with marine crime, including thefts and dangerous boating.

Staying safe on the water

There have been four accidents on the water so far this year involving boats, which Houston says is a lot compared with most years. Often one accident per year would be "pushing it".

"It seems to be people failing to keep a good lookout, like what you're supposed to do on a boat, which is fairly important. I suppose people get blase about it, and you can't get complacent on the water because there's other water users."

One year a ski boat came "full noise" up on to the beach at Petone during a New Year's concert, ending up in the speakers.

Another time a snorkeller was run over by a boatie who was not paying attention. The swimmer's leg was sliced by the propellers.

There have been four accidents on the water in Wellington so far in 2017, police say. Photo/Supplied

"It's a little bit concerning that people aren't keeping a good lookout, because you should be. Being a water user myself, I expect other water users to be looking out for me.

"Swimmers are starting to venture more than 200m off land ... it's a busy harbour.

"Our business is to be the safest country in the world, and we want this to be the safest water in the world as well."

The history

The Police Maritime Section first came into being during the First World War, in 1917.

The boat was being built by a man in the Marlborough Sounds, who had named it Lady Elizabeth, after his grandmother.

The government requisitioned it and it became the first police boat.

Wellington's unit is now on to Lady Elizabeth IV.

Senior Sergeant Dave Houston has been heading out on the police boat for 20 years. Photo/Melissa Nightingale

At some point there was debate about whether to keep the maritime unit service, as questions rose as to whether it was important.

After one of the police boats capsized, killing two people, members of the public fundraised $280,000 for a new boat, and about 46,000 signed a petition to keep the service.