Underwater Metal Detectors Help Police and Military

27.07.2016
A growing number military dive teams and law enforcement agencies are putting underwater metal detectors to work in their search and recovery operations. They use these detectors for a variety of tasks including locating explosive devices, searching for weapons and evidence, salvage operations, looking for lost anchors and chains, and for finding for objects dropped from ships and piers. United States and Peruvian Navy divers have cooperated on several missions including the salvage of a sunken ship in Panama harbor.



Peruvian Navy diver Rafael Jimenez Fonseca says “Our team relies on JW Fishers Pulse 8X detector”. So do the US Navy’s Mobile Diving & Salvage Units, Underwater Construction Teams, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Units, SEALs, and the Israeli Navy dive teams.

Navy dive teams aren’t the only ones using underwater metal detectors (UMD). The US Air Force Rescue Wing, the USAF Reserve Command’s premier combat search and rescue unit, is also employing these machines in their operations. The wing consists of over 1,500 airman trained and equipped to locate and recover US armed forces personnel in both peacetime and wartime. They also provide rescue support to NASA Space Shuttle Missions, offer search and rescue support for civilians who are lost or in distress, and assist in humanitarian and disaster relief operations. The unit has acquired several of JW Fishers Pulse 8X detectors to aid in these missions.

Another service branch using the UMD is US Army Corps of Engineers. The Lone Star Army Ammunition Plant in Texas occupies 15 thousand acres of land. It was establish in 1942 during WWII to manufacture bombs, shells, fuses, boosters, and auxiliary ammunitions. The plant operated until 2005 when it was closed down under the Base Realignment and Closure Act. Now officials are working to clean up the site. Hank Domme, Ordnance and Explosives Safety Specialist, reports using the Pulse 8X in their EOD clearance operations.

Many law enforcement agencies are also employing underwater detectors in their ops. FBI divers are often called in to help state and local police find a weapon thrown in a waterway. Criminals mistakenly believe if they dispose of a gun or knife in the water, it will be lost forever. FBI dive teams prove them wrong time and again by recovering the weapons, even when they’re buried deep in mud. In one case the team managed to find all the pieces of a hand gun that was completely disassembled before being tossed into the river. Even the bomb squad in our smallest state is utilizing the underwater metal detector. After working with the FBI dive team and using one of their Pulse 8X detectors, Rhode Island Bomb Squad member Thomas Groff declared he had to have one for his team and bought an 8X.

ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms) is another bureau using these high tech tools. Their Explosive Training Branch (ETB) has added the JW Fisher detector to their arsenal. ETB conducts programs for local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to teach identification and location of explosives, and how to properly handle and dispose of them. With the threat of a terrorist attack on any front, officers need to know how to search for, and locate explosive devices that are attached to ships, bridges, piers, and other underwater structures.

The Sheriff’s dive team in Pinellas County Florida is called in when there is an underwater crime scene that needs to be searched. With the county surrounded on three sides by water the 9 member dive team sees a lot of action. Sgt. Michael Ferdon reports, “we have made a number of great finds with our Pulse 8X in the 11 years I’ve been on the dive team. We’ve found guns, knives, cell phones and many other pieces of evidence. In a recent case we used the detector to search for a couple of stolen firearms allegedly tossed into a pond. No guns were located; allowing us to discredit the informant.” He went on to say, “Thanks for your wonderful products and top notch customer service”.

A few of the many other military and law enforcement dive teams using the Pulse 8X are the US Border Patrol, Connecticut State Police, Swedish Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, US Naval Surface Warfare Center, Texas Highway Patrol, New Jersey State Police, Policia de Puerto Rico, Ottawa Police Service in Canada, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Olmstead Sheriffs Dive Team in Minnesota, Maine State Police, and US Navy Expeditionary Combat Command and their Facilities Engineering Service Center in California.

For more information on JW Fishers complete line of underwater search equipment go to www.jwfishers.com.

Location: USA









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