by Dave Sully
After a fairly intense period of marine crime in the area last year, involving thefts of outboard motors, lower units, marine electronics, and boats, highlighted by the bold theft of the fast boat “Invincible” and the dramatic apprehension of the thieves off of Cuba, there seems to be a resurgence of criminal activity, this time involving high end electronics. While there is always the element of marine crime, with the attendant loss of equipment necessitating vigilance on the part of boat owners, this latest rise is attributed, by and large, to organized factions, as were the boat thefts last year.
Much of the current focus has been on high end GPS monitors and expensive chart plotters. A popular target, the Garmin 7600 Series GPS costs over $7,000, with a like cost for chartplotters. Lee County Sheriff Detective Sergeant Tim Galloway pointed out that thieves have been hitting marine dealerships, as well as private craft, seeking the aforementioned units, along with Yamaha gauges, radar units, and other marine electronics. He added that organized boat thefts, along with outboard motors and lower units seem to have moved to the East coast, but there will always be a criminal element wherever there is a profit to be made in stolen items.
As for organized electronic thievery, typically the thieves remove the monitors from the vessels, as they are the most sophisticated and expensive items, while most often leaving the roof units, known as radomes, untouched. Galloway observed that the stolen gear is then fairly quickly moved out of county or out of country.
A sampling of marine crime in the latter part of 2017 shows $70,000 in marine electronics taken from five boats in Clearwater, five boats gutted of marine equipment in Englewood, four GPS units, plus an amp and speakers in Naples, five Simrad GPS units in Naples, along with five Garmin GPS units in Bonita Springs. Also included in the hauls were a number of Yamaha outboard motors and lower units from Cape Coral and Ft Myers.
Galloway emphasized that virtually all of these thefts were “crimes of opportunity,” with thieves seizing the initiative. The challenge for boat owners is to stifle that opportunity. Detective Galloway suggested a method of protecting electronic equipment with a 100% success rate, saying, “When equipping your boat with GPS or chartplotters, make sure you register your electronics, especially with Garmin, and have the installer wiring your boat use quick disconnects on the monitors so that they can easily be removed from the vessel when they are not in use.” Though taking the monitors off the boat requires a little extra effort, saving upwards of $10,000 is well worth it.
As for boats, motors, lower units, and other gear, GPS tracking devices hidden on the boats, dock alarms, motion sensor lights, and video cameras, along with being alert to unusual activity are all time-honored ways to thwart the criminals.
As the old adage goes- “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
“A large part of the beauty and appeal of Lee County revolves around the vast expanse of beautiful waterways. This water makes Southwest Florida a haven for boaters and, sadly, a target for theft of the expensive equipment associated with boating.
Our Marine Unit, was recently awarded the Meritorious Public Service Award from United States Coast Guard Rear Admiral P.J. Brown, which restlessly patrols these waters so as to protect our residents, our visitors and their property. Sheriff Scott and I could not be prouder of the men and women of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit.”