Gulf Shores PD expanding services with Marine Patrol unit

GULF SHORES, Ala. (WALA) - The Gulf Shores Police Department has launched its new Marine Patrol unit as the summer tourist season kicks off. Two officers are now assigned to patrol the waters in and around Gulf Shores throughout the week and on weekends.

Officers Ian Wallace and Tim Jones have been assigned to that team. While relatively new to the department, both have ties to the gulf coast and said they’re honored to have been chosen to start up the unit. From east to west, there are more than 22-miles of coastline to service on both the intracoastal side and the gulf front…so their hands are full.

“Just west of the new bridge coming in on Canal Road, so we patrol the Intracoastal from there all the way out to Mobile Bay and then, we actually patrol…we have most of Bon Secour River as well and then, obviously, our beachfront,” Jones said.

The number of marinas and boaters in the area has grown greatly over the last several years and the goal of the Marine Patrol unit is to make sure boat operators are doing so in a safe manner and to respond quickly when there’s trouble on the water.

“It’s obviously just to make sure everyone’s operating their vessel safely. We want to get people to slow down in the NO WAKE zones and ensure people are being safe, not hanging over the side of the boat or damaging other folks’ vessels,” Wallace explained.

With so many boats, both recreational and commercial there’s no telling day-to-day what kinds of calls might come in. Friday, June 6, 2025 the team showed me a spot that’s claimed two boats over the last month or so.

“Back in April we responded to a vessel on fire out here at the mouth of the Bon Secour and Mobile Bay and we were out here with…Orange Beach Fire actually came out and put that boat out and we were just assisting and making sure people were staying far enough back from that,” described Wallace as he pointed out the boats. “We have another vessel here that had ran aground.”

Officers Jones and Wallace aren’t just watching out for people and their boats. Occasionally they run across animals in need, like a brown pelican that was caught up in fishing gear. They were able to clear it and get it into a rehab facility.

The Marine Patrol has been on the water for just more than a month and the team said they’ve been busier than they thought they’d be. Fortunately, there’s help on the way in the form of a brand new 27-foot Metal Shark Defiant. It isn’t cheap and nearly half a million dollars, but will with its speed, size and durability, it will be a valuable tool.

“We do have a dive unit with the police department, combined with the fire department so with that new boat, we’ll be able to use that to be able to bring out our dive team as well,” Jones said.

Area boaters like Guy Edwards said they’re glad to be sharing the water with the men in blue.

“I think having these guys on the water just makes people stop and think about what they’re doing, whether these guys intervene or not. I think that that presence alone kind of slows people down,” Edwards said.

Delivery of the department’s new boat is expected to be as soon as two weeks. The Gulf Shores Police Department hopes to expand the Marine Patrol Division in coming years.