SHERIFF PUTS EXPERIMENTAL BOAT TO TASK

The Charleston County Sheriff's Office is testing a new, one-of-a-kind boat
designed to help law enforcement deal with potential_water-borne threats,
from wily drug runners to terrorists.

The 28-foot boat, equipped with powerful motors, an M-60 machine gun, and
the latest in navigation technology, is on loan to the sheriff's office for
one year from the manufacturer, McKee Craft of North Carolina.

The firm spent 18 months designing the $100,000 boat specifically to meet
the needs of officers providing harbor security, said Key McKee, company
president.

With almost 200 miles of coastline, the nation's fourth-busiest container
port, dozens of waterways and boat traffic that exceeds 80,000 vessels each
year, Charleston County is a potentially attractive target for drug
smugglers and terrorists, said Sheriff Al Cannon.

But local authorities have not always devoted the necessary attention or
resources to addressing this threat, he said.

"This is one area that law enforcement and local government has neglected
historically, and we still have a ways to go improve our capabilities," he
said.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, port security has increased to a level not seen
since World War II, with concerns voiced about terrorists using the
maritime transportation system to smuggle in weapons of mass destruction.
There is already evidence of drug smugglers using the area's waterways.

In Charleston, federal agents found more than 6,500 pounds of cocaine and
10,000 pounds of marijuana in shipping containers during the past three
years, authorities have said. When the sheriff's office merged with the
county police in 1991, its marine patrol consisted of one jon boat and a
single motor.

The patrol now has 21 vessels, five full-time members and 10 part-time
deputies.

The unit handles a variety of tasks, from conducting boating safety checks
to performing rescues, conducting security sweeps of Charleston Harbor and
assisting U.S. Customs agents with searches. McKee learned of the marine
patrol after meeting one of its supervisors through a mutual friend.

He decided the group would be perfect to test his prototype security boat
and offer suggestions for how it should be equipped. With dozens of vendors
donating motors, electronics, a trailer and other equipment, the boat was
assembled in only four weeks, and arrived in Charleston late Wednesday.

Members of the sheriff's office marine patrol staged a demonstration of the
boat Friday on the Cooper River, near the old Charleston Navy base. As its
twin 250-horse-power engines growled, the boat sliced through the choppy
water with ease, passing through wakes with almost no bounce and
negotiating quick, 180-turns as if it were sitting in a swimming pool.

Authorities won't reveal the boat's top speed, but they say it is more than
enough to keep up with the so-called "go fast" boats favored by drug runners.

The vessel is equipped with state-of-the-art radar, a global positioning
system, shotgun racks, fluorescent lights for night-running, and a cell
phone link that gives deputies a 50-mile radius for wireless communication,
said Sgt. Lew Howard of the marine patrol. Video cameras and an on-board
DVD unit will allow deputies to record footage of incidents and evidence
directly onto compact discs.

A wireless feature also will allow Cannon to monitor the action from his
desk computer, he said.

"This takes communication and coordination to a whole new level," Howard
said. T

he boat also has a double hull filled with polyurethane foam designed to
keep occupants above water even if suffers serious damage.

"You can shoot it full of holes and the boat will still bring you back in,"
said Lanness McKee, founder of McKee boats.