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NASBLA recognizes Captain Tim Dunleavy for service as Chairman

By Taylor Matsko posted 01-18-2022 02:01 PM

  

October 1, 2021

Colonel Nathan Noyes                                                                                  
Division of State Police
New Hampshire Department of Safety
33 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03305

Dear Colonel Noyes,

On behalf of the membership of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA), I am writing to thank you and the Division of State Police for the exemplary leadership demonstrated by Captain Tim Dunleavy of the New Hampshire Marine Patrol during his recent term as Chairman of the NASBLA Executive Board during 2020-2021.

Taking the reins of our association during the peak of the pandemic last fall, Captain Dunleavy ably guided NASBLA through one of the most demanding periods in our association’s history. As we experienced record-setting boat sales and a surge in recreational boating participation nationwide, our member agencies looked to NASBLA for guidance and direction in meeting the needs of a rapidly growing boating public that would add more than 500,000 new boaters to our nation’s waterways over the course of last year.

Through the collaboration and support of his leadership team, Dunleavy marshaled the resources of our association, our members, partners and staff to effectively implement new policies, programs and best practices to meet the changes needs of the recreational boating community and our member agencies. From new training opportunities for marine patrol officers to more accessible state education programs for the boating public to renewed partnership agreements with U.S. Coast Guard, NASBLA’s outreach and support initiatives flourished despite COVID.

Assuming direct responsibility for helping establish a new Inland Boat Operators and Marine Patrol Fundamentals Course, Captain Dunleavy personally hosted the development of the course through a series of classroom and on-water exercises and multiple beta tests undertaken at the New Hampshire Marine Patrol’s headquarters facility in Gilford. As a result, at this week’s annual conference in Pittsburgh, the association enthusiastically unveiled and adopted this critical new training program to the satisfaction and appreciation of member agencies across the country. This innovative new curriculum targeted specifically toward the solo marine patrol officer will impact not only the effectiveness of our mission but provide for greater safety and professionalism among marine law enforcement officers throughout the U.S.

Also launched earlier this week, in collaboration with the National District Attorney’s Association (NDAA), NASBLA announced the completion and availability of a brand-new training module in its Boating Under the Influence (BUI) Detection and Enforcement Course aimed at enhancing and improving the prosecution of BUI cases. Drawing on the expertise of both the district attorney and law enforcement communities nationwide, this exciting new courtroom preparation module will assist not only marine patrol officers in achieving better outcomes in court, but eventually provide enhanced training for prosecutors and judges as well.

Following months of negotiations and editing, in January 2021, Captain Dunleavy and U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Richard Timme, Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy, executed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S Coast Guard and NASBLA Regarding Recreational Boating Safety. Among other commitments memorialized in the agreement, both NASBLA and the Coast Guard concurred on the need to continue working together to illustrate the positive use and effectiveness of the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund and to seek appropriate funding levels through the reauthorization process, affirmed the significance of NASBLA’s role as an American National Standards Institute Accredited Standards Developer Organization in maintaining the National Education Standards, and agreed on the need for collaboration in developing the National Recreational Boating Safety Survey.

With the support and encouragement of the Executive Board, under Captain Dunleavy’s term last year NASBLA secured an agreement with the States Organization for Boating Access (SOBA) to provide long-term staffing services in the furtherance of both associations’ long-term goals and strategies. As sister organizations working to advance the states’ role in recreational boating safety and boating access, the new staffing relationship provides greater economies of scale for both associations as they share personnel, office facilities and other critical infrastructure necessary to undertake their unique missions, projects and programs.

Finally, thanks to the courage and leadership exhibited by Dunleavy and his executive board, NASBLA would become the first association within the national RBS community to emerge from the pandemic to resume critical, in-person professional development gatherings including its popular summer residency program the RBS Leadership Academy held in Lexington, KY, as well as the recently completed 62nd NASBLA Annual Conference in Pittsburgh, PA. These two seminal events have been instrumental in the association’s continued success and represent core resources for the National Recreational Boating Safety Program.

I want to take this opportunity to echo the sentiments of our members and once again thank you and the New Hampshire Division of State Police for the hard work, leadership and foresight demonstrated by Captain Tim Dunleavy in the exemplary achievement of his recent term as Chairman of the Executive Board. We deeply appreciate his devotion and commitment to our shared mission in recreational boating safety. Captain Dunleavy was also instrumental in gaining NASBLA’s commitment to host its 2022 Annual Conference in Manchester on September 25-28, 2022. Our members are enthusiastic about visiting the Granite State next year and would be honored if you could join us for this significant annual event in the national RBS calendar.

Respectfully,

John M. Johnson, CAE
Chief Executive Officer

c:  The Honorable Chris Sununu, Governor of New Hampshire

Letter to Colonel Noyes

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