The former colonel of the Water Patrol says the proposal to merge that agency with the Missouri State Highway Patrol is about politics not public safety.
Rad Talburt has stepped forward as an opponent of the plan, saying safety on waterways across the state is at stake.
Gov. Jay Nixon is pushing the move as a way for the state to save money on administrative costs and trim the overall public safety budget.
If Nixon’s plan is successful, the two agencies would be combined under the Missouri Department of Public Safety. DPS officials say the move would not impact public safety.
Talburt disagrees.
He said to his knowledge there hasn’t been any type of feasibility study done to support the move. He believes that in the long term, the move could actually cost the state additional money for equipment, training and personnel.
Talburt said the radio equipment isn’t compatible, the duties of officers are not the same and the training is different.
“One of the reasons the Water Patrol can handle a waterway the size of Lake of the Ozarks with about 20 officers is because those guys will work extended shifts. Over the course of the boating season, those officers will accumulate a substantial amount of overtime that they aren’t paid for but take as time off in the winter,” he said. “The Highway Patrol doesn’t operate the same way so we could either end up with more overtime costs or more personnel or fewer officers out doing the job.”
In areas of the state like Lake of the Ozarks where the Water Patrol plays a crucial role in the law enforcement community and is the only agency enforcing the rules of the waterway, people need to start asking questions and contacting their state representatives and senators before the proposal manages to make it through the legislature, he said.
The Water Patrol currently has 90-plus officers. Two years ago, the state legislature passed a measure that lifted a cap that prevented the Water Patrol from having more than 99 officers.
The Water Patrol had 22 officers assigned to the lake in 2009. Statewide they patrol approximately 8,322 miles of shoreline around the state including lakes, streams and rivers.
Nixon unveiled his proposal last week.
Talburt served as commissioner of the agency under former Gov. Matt Blunt. Talburt was a career Water Patrol officer and had worked himself up through the ranks. His career with the agency began on some of the state’s busiest float streams.
Contact this reporter at joyce.miller@lakesunonline.com
Lake Ozark, Mo. —
