THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 7, 1994 TAG: 9409030202
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: By JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Long : 131 lines
LAST APRIL, ON a bright spring day, two boats collided on the Pagan River.
After the collision, the first boat slowly motored to Smithfield Station, which was about half a mile away, seeking help.
But the second boat and its passengers could only make it to a nearby shore, where the boat quickly sank in shallow water.
And although police could see the collision from land, they had no way of getting to the people in the sinking boat.
Later last spring, after a Smithfield High School student was shot in downtown Smithfield, police learned that the accused shooter had tossed the gun into the James River.
But, even though police knew the general location of the gun, there was no way to retrieve it right away.
Today, the Smithfield Police Department could immediately respond to both calls.
The Smithfield Police Underwater Recovery Team has been formed to assist boaters, respond to rescue situations and recover crime evidence from the surrounding Smithfield waterways.
Dive team members include: Smithfield Police Chief Mark A. Marshall, Smithfield Police Lt. Phil Hardison and Isle of Wight Rescue Squad members John Cornett and Mark Allen.
Smithfield police officers Kurt Beach and Richard Moore also serve as surface tenders, securing lines attached to divers and watching for underwater problems.
Certification for the dive team began five months ago at the Chesapeake Bay Diving Center in Portsmouth.
All training has been completed during the members' off time - during weekends and evenings.
Smithfield Station also has donated a boat slip for the team to dock its boat.
Marshall said the team was formed because of the increasing activities on the waterways around the Smithfield area.
``We have Ron Pack's operation at Smithfield Station, where more boat slips have been added.
``They've added a large boardwalk with boating facilities, and we have a new 70-foot fishing pier, Marshall said.
``You can visibly notice the increase in the water traffic with more water skiers, boaters and jet skiers,'' he said.
Ron Pack, owner of Smithfield Station, said on a typical weekend during the summer, between 50 to 75 boaters dock at the station.
``And now with the increased activity around the water, the possibility increases that people will run into each other,'' he said.
On a normal day, the peaceful flow of the Pagan River runs from three and a half to about six miles per hour with water depths of zero to 30 feet as it winds to the Cypress Creek Bridge in Smithfield.
But underneath the surface, the peace is broken with dark, whirling waters that push against divers, said dive team member Phil Hardison.
And Hardison ought to know.
He and other dive team members have been slowly mapping the bottom of a one-mile stretch of water from Cypress Creek to the Pagan River Bridge - all waters surrounding Smithfield.
The map could serve as a guide for divers when they are called to respond to an emergency on the water.
Using a 100-foot rope as a reference, the team has been walking the bottom of the Pagan in a grid pattern, feeling around for debris, holes and measuring depths in the water.
``It's like diving into a black hole,'' Hardison said. ``And when you step over that edge, and you can't see.
``You can't tell up from down because there's no sunlight. But you can feel the current pulling on you, pushing you the way of the current. And it takes a lot of energy to go against it,'' Hardison said.
``The jellyfish are horrible,'' Marshall added. ``And they're just not at the top. They're swimming in the water, too. They look like little ghosts before they wrap around your lips.
``We refer to it as getting slimed. We've had to go to using a full face mask because of the jellyfish,'' he said.
Pack said the area the team has been practicing in outside his restaurant is not a pretty river to dive into.
``It takes a lot of nerve to dive here for anything,'' he said. ``It's just so dark. There is no visibility. You can't look at the fish or the crabs. You're looking at your hands, if you're lucky,'' he said.
Before the Smithfield team was formed, the closest law enforcement divers were on an eight-member team at the Suffolk Police Department.
The Suffolk team was formed in 1977 because of several drownings that occurred, and because it was difficult to get someone to respond to drowning calls, said Suffolk Police Capt. Richard H. Hurd.
Since then, the team has answered calls to dive for contraband, drowning victims, personal property thrown over a bridge and even to clean out a plugged water intake system for the city public works department.
``One year we might get a dozen calls,'' Hurd said. ``The next year, it might only be one or two. But, we've also assisted other departments in Southampton County, Isle of Wight, Franklin and we've been to North Carolina once,'' he said.
While Suffolk dive members paid to equip their own team, funding for the Smithfield dive team has come from Title 21 federal funds, money and assets seized from narcotic investigations.
Smithfield has purchased wet suits for each member, valued at $2,500 each.
And, they have also been given the use of a 21-foot Aqua Sport boat, valued at $8,000, that was confiscated in a drug seizure.
``It's real difficult to provide additional services to the public with no additional money,'' Marshall said.
``It's allowed us to purchase these things that we couldn't normally get because it was cost prohibited,'' he added. ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
DIVING TO THE RESCUE
[Color] Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
The Smithfield dive team practices in the Pagan River, where much of
the team's work will take place.
Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Diver Phil Hardison is an investigator with the Smithfield Police
Department.
The dive team prepares to leave the dock at Smithfield Station for
practice.
On the dock are officers Kurt Beach, in hat, and Richard Moore.
Diver Mark Allen is a member of the Isle of Wight Rescue Squad.
Diver team member Mark Marshall is Smithfield's police chief.
The dive team practices in the Pagan River, where boating activity
has picked up dramatically.
by CNB