Note from the RRSP on Patrolling

I was unable to attend the RKLD Annual meeting at the Fort Atkinson High School on July 24th.

First a little background information about the RRSP. We are a small part time municipal patrol that is based on the Rock River in Fulton Township. We have the funding to patrol 2 or 3 days a week and we mostly patrol on weekends. It’s on weekends when most of the summer boating activity occurs. Our Patrol has the responsibility to patrol the Rock River from Indian Fords to Fort Atkinson and all of Lake Koshkonong. This area is roughly 20 miles of river system and 10,800 acres of lake. We have 3 Counties and 5 Townships that are in our jurisdiction.

The RRSP’s mission is to promote boating safety by educating the boating public and enforcing boating laws. When we stop a boat we do a boat inspection, answer the boaters question and provide them with boating regulations. Sometimes we find it necessary to issue written warnings and in the more egregious violations we issue boating citations. This is all done with the primary focus on promoting boating safety.

It is my policy that the Patrol circumnavigates the lake and river on each of its patrol days. This includes patrolling the river at Blackhawk Island.

With only a few exceptions we patrol the river by Blackhawk Island every day we our out on patrol. The RRSP has in fact written a number of citations from Blackhawk Island to Patten’s Marina.

With the dedicated efforts of our officers the Rock River and Lake Koshkonong are safer now for the boating public than they have been in the 30 years that I have patrolled these waters.

Captain Henry Sautin
Rock River Safety Patrol