CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Summer has officially started, meaning BBQs and time spent at the pool or on the lake.
Thousands will head to Lake Norman this summer, the largest man-made lake in the state, but it's who’s protecting those waters we are focusing on.
WCNC Charlotte's Meghan Bragg is taking us behind the scenes with the Iredell County Sheriff's Office.
Lake Norman, which is the largest man-made lake in North Carolina, spans 34 miles in length with 520 miles of shoreline, and the Iredell County Sheriff's Office patrols more than half of that.
"You're checking your businesses we will take calls out here on the lake we check into our popular spots," Deputy Jarid Church said.
Behind the wheel, Deputy Jarid Church and Deputy Brooks Weathers have been patrolling the water for more than five years.
"I just enjoy kinda being out on the water. We try to be out here a peak times so you know sunrise to sunset," Weathers said.
But who are they pulling over the most? That's one question you wanted answered.
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"The most is going to be safety violations, so if someone is careless or reckless or someone is operating too close to the dock at no-wake speed if they are too close to other boats doing crazy maneuvers and it doesn’t make it any safer," Church said.
Last year the Iredell Sheriff's Office made 249 stops for safety violations. And of those stops 44 tickets were given.
"We lean towards education," Church said. "I don’t go out trying to write people tickets but if they need a ticket they need a ticket."
But do they even need a reason to pull you over? According to North Carolina law, they don’t. Law enforcement officers have the authority to stop and inspect any vessel.
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"We can if need be if we are going to stop someone, we typically have a reason," Church said.
Safety checks and safety violations can lead to BWI or boating while impaired.
"So if we stop someone for a safety violation, whether it be some kind of motoring mauver or just stumbling falling down on the boat falling off the boat if we believe that someone is to be impaired," Church said.
Last year, the sheriff's office arrested 27 people for BWIs.
Church said they usually work with north carolina fish and wildlife for these arrests. North Carolina Fish and Wildlife stated they arrested 27 people for BWIs last year on Lake Norman.
Contact Meghan Bragg at mbragg@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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