The Marine Patrol Unit is under the command of the Special Operations Division. The Marine Patrol Unit’s primary responsibilities are to respond to all water-related incidents, underwater recoveries and emergencies on Lake Lanier within Forsyth County and to mutual aid request from surrounding agencies. In addition, the Marine Patrol Unit spends an enormous amount of time educating boaters, swimmers and persons visiting Army Corps of Engineers Parks about water safety and the importance of Personal Flotation Devices.

The Marine Patrol Unit consist 2 center console patrol boats and 2 Yamaha wave runners. Each patrol boat is manned by 2 highly trained deputies; the wave runners are manned by the same highly trained deputies from within the unit. Each deputy is trained in marine vessel operations, swimming techniques, rescue techniques, First Responder Certification and boat crash investigations. The Marine Patrol Unit works very closely with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Georgia Department Natural Resources (DNR) on a daily basis.
The Marine Patrol Unit has developed very valuable private business sponsors with several of the local businesses surrounding Lake Lanier. This enables our Marine Patrol Unit to provide very effective services to the boating public at very little cost to taxpayers.

The Forsyth County Sheriff's Office is very appreciative of the following sponsors:
Bald Ridge Marina
Habersham Marina
Bradley’s Speed and Marine (provides all boat maintenance at NO cost)
Freedom Power Sports (provides new Sea Doo PWCs annually at NO cost)

The Marine Patrol is on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The Marine Patrol Unit works full-time on Lake Lanier from May to October.

To contact the Forsyth County Marine Patrol Unit, call Sergeant Chris Shelton at 770-205-4631 or email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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