SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. — Overcast skies and rain created a slow Fourth of July weekend for many lakeshore communities.
“The traffic just in general has been down,” said Dept. Trever Tate. “When you’re out, it’s not bad, but I think people are a little worried about coming out and spending time here when they’re not sure of the weather.”
Tate works for the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office’s (VBCSO) Marine Division. The 16-member team enforces all watercraft laws throughout the county during the summer.
He allowed FOX 17 to ride along as he and a coworker patrolled the Black River Sunday evening.
They did not issue any citations, and rarely do according to Tate. He explained VBCSO instead aims to take a proactive approach when they intervene.
“Some of the things we like to enforce are kids under six, making sure they have their safety vest on all of the time,” said Tate. “That tubers and jet skiers are abiding by the laws just for their safety. We’ve had way too many drownings.”
Tate says when people fail to follow the rules, it can lead to tragic situations that also use a tremendous amount of resources and put others at risk.
With better weather and the city’s fireworks show over the next two days, the beach and lake will likely fill. He hopes their patrol remains just as calm though.
“We just really want people to be safe, and we want to educate people so we don’t have to come out here and unfortunately find people in the water that don’t make it,” said Tate.
