Fairfax Co. Marine Patrol Unit navigating busy season as more boats, inexperienced drivers hit the water

FAIRFAX, Va. — The Fairfax County Marine Patrol Unit typically enforces compliance, but over the weekend, members were called out to a serious situation when a boat began to sink.

The unit was already out in their 29-foot SAFE boat in the Occoquan Bay on Saturday in anticipation of the strong storms that eventually pummeled the region. Waves from the storm swarmed a boat off of Holiday Island following a private concert that evening.

Ofc. Timothy Judd said the team pulled out six people to safety, which he considered the most people rescued in recent years. A Prince William County unit saved one other person.

New bodycam footage from Fairfax County Police showed part of the boat submerged as a nearby boater tried to help.

“We spotted several people in the water and two people clinging onto the boat,” Judd told WUSA9. “The boat was totally swamped.”

It’s the second boat that sank this summer, according to Judd who considered the most people helped in recent years.

The Marine Patrol Unit works year-round with two full-time members and eight supplemental officers hired for the summer season. One of them is Maria Stecco, who for the first time this year, is required to undergo “swimming wellness.”

“We’ve mixed in some swimming wellness this summer, which has become beneficial,” Stecco said. “This is the first year we’ve actually incorporated in order to stay on the unit to maintain those capabilities.”

The two full-time members have a U.S. Coast Guard Captain’s License, trained in swift water rescue and are emergency medical technicians.

Additional enhancement for the job has become vital as more boats hit the water, especially since the pandemic. However, the unit is noticing more inexperienced drivers and incidents.  

“It’s definitely been busy, and we see more people go in the water compared to years past,” Judd said. “Our primary goal is compliance and then there’s the rest with inexperienced boaters doing reckless things. They’re just not understanding the rules of the water.”

“There’s a lot of new boaters,” Stecco added. “Even talking to people, they just bought their boat, and they don’t do professional lessons.”

The job is rewarding but can pose challenges including hot days and the vastness of the coverage area. The unit takes care of the Fairfax County side of the Occoquan Reservoir and coves on the Potomac River.

However, because of the Virginia code, the unit has the ability to enforce laws in other jurisdictions if necessary.

“Our number one concern is safety,” Judd said. “Then we figure out the jurisdiction and see if there’s a violation of the law.”