Officers work to keep beaches safe

PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL - Sunlight shone off the Gulf of Mexico's green waters Friday afternoon, and a gentle breeze carried the smell of sea.
    
Heads turned and eyes followed Sheriff 's Deputy Ron Gilligan's black Ford-150 truck as he steered through crowds of spring breakers and dodged potholes dug in the sand.
    
"I enjoy coming to work every day," said Gilligan, a member of Bay County Sheriff's Office beach patrol unit. "Sometimes, I think it's amazing I get paid to do this."

Gilligan is one of half-a-dozen or so Bay County officers who patrol the unincorporated sections of the 21 miles of beach stretching from St. Andrews State Park to the west end of the county line.
    
Swimsuit clad co-eds sprinkled the beach sands on the calm, balmy Friday. Some waved at the truck, marked by a gold sheriff's badge, while others shrank from it, beer cans lowering.
    
Gilligan, a tall and tan 16-year veteran of the department with a shaved head, greets those he passes with a wave and a friendly word. At one point, he pulls up abruptly next to a large group of college-looking students digging deeply in the sand.
    
"Do you all have a digging permit I can see?" Gilligan said.
    
They said they weren't aware they needed one.
    
Gilligan, behind black sunglasses, tells the clan of New Jersey college students a permit is required for any hole wider and deeper than one foot. Several glances are exchanged between students; finally, one begins to apologize, but is cut off by Gilligan.
    
"I am just messing with you guys," Gilligan said with a laugh, smiling suddenly.
    
Pleasantries are exchanged, but before Gilligan leaves, he asks them to fill in the hole before they leave. "My whole front end will go out if I hit that."
    
Gilligan has worked with the Sheriff 's Office since 1992. After stints as a patrolman and school resource officer, he was asked if he would be interested in the beach patrol.
    
A southern California native who enjoys surfing, Gilligan didn't require much convincing.
    
"I said, ‘Do I just need to sign something or what?' " he recalled. 
    
Gilligan now is in his fifth season on beach patrol, and his job partly is a public relations role.
    
"You have to be able to talk to people," Gilligan said. "My sense is most people just want to have a good time."
    
Gilligan said his day begins by checking the surf conditions and grabbing a swim; then he makes the beach rounds, keeping a sharp eye for rip currents, distressed swimmers, rowdy behavior and law violations.
    
"It is our job to be proactive," Gilligan said. "We respond to calls, but a lot of our work comes from being visible and identifying potential hazards."     

Gilligan has been on beach patrol long enough to know what is permissible. It is OK to have a grill on the beach, but not a fire. A keg of beer is OK, but never glass. Beer bongs are off limits. He thinks.
    
"I will have to check on that one," Gilligan said. 
    
With only two or three officers covering more than a dozen miles of beach, Gilligan said officers must have priorities. Beachgoers drinking from glass containers or consuming alcohol underage very well might receive a warning instead of a citation, especially on days when the surf is rough and officers are needed on the beaches, Gilligan said.
    
"You can only be in one place at a time and there is a lot of beach to cover," he said.
    
More than a dozen people died in drowning-related deaths on Bay beaches last season, and Gilligan said protecting lives is the patrol's top priority.
    
Sporting shorts, zip-off shoes and a button polo shirt, with floatable device and inflatable vest within reach should a distress call come, Gilligan said responding to distressed swimmers can become a full-time job in itself at times.
    
"You have days when (distress calls) are one after another," Gilligan said. "You have days like today that are pretty calm."
    
Yellow flags flapped in the wind, indicating tranquil weather. 

As he rolled down the beach, Gilligan reminded a small crowd of people surrounded by strewn beer cans to collect their trash before they left. He made a few baby-faced, newly turned 21-year-olds present identification. 
    
Nobody was arrested or rescued from violent currents; all in all, it was a pretty good day at the beach.