Michigan Association of Police

Excerpted from news media

Trenton Police Officers used a new device to rescue a man who fell through the ice on a canal at Elizabeth Park Feb. 3. The man’s dog ran out on the ice and the owner chased him.

While the dog made it off the ice, the man fell through and police found him clinging to a piece of ice. Trenton Police used a newly acquired water rescue throw bag to rescue the man.

The department purchased these devices following a December 2018 police water rescue. An officer in that incident boarded a nearby kayak when a car drove into the Detroit River and the driver was completely submerged. The Trenton Officer was able to break the car window with the kayak paddle, free the female driver and pull her to safety, said Trenton Police Lt. Mike Hawkins, MAP Executive Board President.

Trenton Police now keep the throw bags inside their vehicles.

“Within the first week or two of getting these in we’ve already saved a life and it’s come in handy and saved our officers and helped out the community,” Hawkins said in a Fox 2 News interview.

For more on the water rescues, please see the following links to the rescue articles:

http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/387782822-video

https://www.officer.com/tactical/news/21060050/michigan-police-officers-rescue-man-who-fell-through-frozen-canal

http://www.thenewsherald.com/news/man-clinging-to-life-rescued-by-trenton-officer-after-falling/article_f4d52f2e-28ce-11e9-8889-6794a5dd3f12.html

https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/trenton-officer-finds-kayak-uses-it-to-rescue-woman-inside-car-sinking-in-detroit-river

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2018/12/17/trenton-police-woman-detroit-river/2343749002/

https://www.wilx.com/content/news/Police-body-camera-footage-shows-officers-rescue-of-woman-from-Detroit-River--503213321.html