Tri-County Cougars Take to the Water with State Police

According to an MSPNews.org post, last Thursday, students from Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School in Franklin joined the Massachusetts State Police Marine Unit for a day on the waters of Boston Harbor. The students, all sophomores, take part in the Legal and Protective Services Career Program at Tri-County. Students took to the harbor on Marine 45 of the MSP Marine Unit, joined by Trooper Farrah Gray, Troop C Community Liaison, who organized the trip and who has coordinated a law enforcement guest speaker series for the class.

Our Tri-County student guests were interested to learn about the various missions the Marine Unit undertakes such as liquified natural gas (LNG) tanker security and responding to swimmers and boaters in distress. Many students were surprised by how often the MSP Marine Unit works with other local, state, and federal maritime agencies. Some students said they had not realized, in addition to road patrols and land-based operations, just how far the MSP’s enforcement and protection mission extends to the coastal and inland waters of the state..

Prior to last week’s Marine Unit outing, the class heard from a host of guest speakers from other MSP units during sessions throughout the spring semester led by Trooper Gray. The program, titled IMPRESS — an acronym for Invitational Massachusetts State Police Real Encounters Speaker Series — highlighted for students the various ways MSP serves and protects the citizens of Massachusetts.