St. Joseph News-Press

The boats are bigger and faster on recreational lakes and waterways across Missouri. The crowds are getting larger, too, every year. And, finally, the Missouri Water Patrol will be able to do more than watch while out-of-control boaters put others in danger. ...

A new law that went on the books at the end of the last boating season gives the Missouri Water Patrol the authority to make arrests virtually anywhere in the state.

Before the new law, the water patrol frequently ran into legal complications when investigating boat accidents and making arrests. If an intoxicated boater was injured in an accident, for example, the patrol officers could follow the boater to the hospital, but were unable to issue a summons away from the shoreline. The officers would often notify other law enforcement agencies to make the arrests.

Water patrol officers are able to follow, in order to make an arrest, intoxicated boaters who drive away in a car. That only makes sense in a state famous for its wonderful lakes and miles of navigable rivers.

Times have changed. Mom and Pop still take the kids out on the weekend, but so do thousands of young people. Many of them add beer to their fun in the sun. The water patrol will be better able to make sure that fun doesn't end in tragedy.