SAPD's New Lake Nasworthy Boathouse to Improve Public Safety on the Water

Earlier this morning, the San Angelo Police Department held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its new Lake Patrol boathouse on Lake Nasworthy. Chief of Police Tim Vasquez did the honors of cutting the ribbon for the opening.

This new boathouse will be able to create a shorter response time for SAPD on the water. Before the opening of the boathouse, SAPD had boats in storage units, and officers would have to load them up onto a trailer. After being loaded onto the trailer, the officers would then have to drive to Lake Nasworthy to respond to a call. 

This process would usually take them 30 minutes or more. With the new boathouse, however, SAPD officers will now be able to respond in less than 10 minutes. 

Tracy Gonzalez, public information officer for SAPD, said, "It has been a long time coming that our agency has needed a safe and secure location on the water. [Officers will] be able to provide a faster emergency response to citizens [from all over] who come to enjoy Lake Nasworthy."

Sgt. Barry Wike, with the San Angelo Lake Division, was very excited to announce the opening of the SAPD Lake Nasworthy boathouse. He noted, "The building we have now is allowing us to be on the water at all times."

During busy weekends, when the lake is full of civilians, the boat will constantly stay on the water.  

The President of the Lake Nasworthy Homeowners Association, Trinidad Aguirre, helped begin the process for the construction of the lake boathouse. 

The boathouse was a four to five year project for the Lake Nasworthy Homeowners Association, the City and SAPD. The decision for the construction of the boathouse was due to an incident that occurred on the water. However, Aguirre was not sure about the specific incident.

Because of this incident though, SAPD officials decided they needed a faster response time on the water.

Aguirre said, "A lot of the board members from Lake Nasworthy got together, and they petitioned the city and worked with the police department. [They] said, 'Lets find a place.' And that was the beginning of this building."

Gonzalez added, "This is going to improve response time for emergencies greatly, and you can't put a number [on how] valuable that is to public safety."

Additionally, the boathouse will provide protection for the equipment. Wike said, "We're covered. Our equipment is protected, and we're on the water. We [can now] respond directly from the water 365 days a year."