Kosciusko County
Lake Patrol
The Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department lake patrol programs currently operate active on the water patrols on Lake Wawasee, Syracuse Lake, and the Lake Tippecanoe chain of lakes ( Lake Tippecanoe, James Lake or Little Tippecanoe, and Oswego Lake). The lake patrol program focuses on enforcing the boating laws of Indiana, boater education, and boater safety. The department’s lake patrol program has been in continuous operation since the early 1970’s. A recognized need for lake patrols on some of the larger local lakes, such as the Lake Tippecanoe chain, began as early as the 1940’s.
Kosciusko County is fortunate to have Lake Wawasee, which is the largest natural lake in the state, at approximately 3400 acres, and Lake Tippecanoe, the deepest lake in the state, at an estimated depth of 120 to 150 feet.
The lake patrol division of the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department currently has seven patrol boats at its disposal. All of our patrol boats are fully equipped as law enforcement watercraft and can respond to any lake in the county should an emergency or other need arise. Twelve lake patrol special deputies and a Sheriff’s Department lake patrol coordinator operates the patrol boats. The lake patrol coordinator is a regular deputy sheriff and a full time law enforcement officer with the department. The Lake Wawasee and Syracuse Lake patrol program currently has eight lake patrol deputies. The Lake Tippecanoe patrol program currently has four lake patrol 
deputies. The lake patrol program is possible only because of the strong cooperative effort between the local lake property owner associations and the Sheriff’s Department. The lake property owner associations have made an enduring commitment to provide equipment and qualified lake patrol personnel from within their membership. The volunteer civilian members of the lake patrol are deputized by the Kosciusko County Sheriff to perform specific law enforcement duties as Special Deputies. Their authority allows them to enforce the boating laws of Indiana while they are actively on patrol.
The Wawasee Property Owners Association (www.wawaseepoa.org), Syracuse Lake Association, and the Lake Tippecanoe Property Owners (www.ltpo.org) are currently active in the lake patrol program. The lake patrol activity focuses on the summer recreational boating season in Kosciusko County. The boats are available to the lake patrol deputies from April to October. Patrol activity occurs at all times of the day and night. During the major holiday weeks and weekends, the patrol activity intensifies to coincide with the heaviest boating times. Most of the major lakes in Kosciusko 
County have various celebrations and special events through the year, which attract additional boaters and visitors to the lakes. The lake patrol patrols at these high profile events to detect illegal activity and stop any boating violators in the area of the event. The largest celebrations usually occur around the Fourth of July week and include firework displays and flotillas. Other events that are common on the lakes include fishing tournaments, antique boat rallies and sailing club races.
