Stopping Non-Compliant Vessels

The mission here at Station San Diego is very unique because of our connection with the border. There's always vessels coming from the Mexican territorial seas over to the United States. It gets very complex with all the different migrants that you're dealing with on a daily basis. Force Design 28 under Secretary Nome and our Commandant directed us to think differently and be innovative. We took a look at our policies and we saw that providing this opportunity for our young men and women who are the best maritime law enforcement officers in the world to make decision making on the front lines. We felt that was critical in order for us to secure control and defend our borders. A non-compliant vessel is any vessel that is not obeying the commands directed at them. So when we first see the vessel we will turn on our lights and sirens and make call outs over the loud hailer. And once that vessel does not listen to the orders then they are considered a non-compliant vessel. Pursuit coxswain is when you're dealing with non-compliant vessels and you're running through the four steps in order to get positive control of the vessel that's running away from you. We were doing a routine patrol and we received a report of a TOI entering the San Diego Bay from Jayhawk. So we got vectored into the position of the vessel and we spotted it. We made an approach on the vessel and as we were approaching with our lights and sirens on the vessel then started to turn around and exit the San Diego Bay. From here I deemed the vessel non-compliant and we moved into step two and we expended two rounds of LA-51 off the vessel's bow. This was still ineffective and the vessel increased its speed and tried to make an attempt to flee. From there we went into step three and we expended 30 rounds of PLS at the operator and the helm and this was still ineffective. From there then we moved into step four and we expended four rounds of copper stable slug on the engine which ultimately disabled it and I made an approach on the vessel and the boarding team went over and got positive control of the operator and the crew. We had a lot of discussions about making this change. Our Coxswains are some of the best in the world. They're out there operating offshore on a half a million dollar boat. This just ensures that they are able to have the authority to make the necessary decision from a law enforcement capacity to protect our shores.