Fishing derby Feb. 3 to raise money for special ops equipment

By ROGER AMSDEN, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — The Belknap Regional Special Operations Group will host a fishing derby on Manning Lake in Gilmanton on Saturday, Feb. 3, to raise funds for protective gear and communications equipment for its members.

“We’re not getting much in the way of funding from the county and need protective vests and helmets for three new members of the team. We also need to upgrade our communications,” said Dustin Parent of the Gilford Police Department, who is a member of the special ops team and is organizing the derby.

“The derby is something new for us. We’re hoping it will become an annual event and raise our visibility and public awareness of what we do,” said Parent.

Lt. David Perkins of the Belknap County Sheriff’s Department, team leader of the special operations group, said that in recent years the 22-member organization has purchased virtually all of its new equipment through fundraisers such as raffles, along with grants from local banks.

The special operations group was started in 2002 and became active in 2004. Then-Belknap County Sheriff Dan Collis and local police chiefs created it in an effort to meet security concerns raised by terrorist attacks in September 2001.

It won a highly competitive grant from the Homeland Security Department for about $700,000 in 2003, money that was spent on training and equipment until the grant expired in 2008.

“There hasn’t been much in the way of grant money available in recent years and we’re pretty much left to our own devices,” said Perkins.

He said the group’s mission is to respond to situations that are "above and beyond" the scope of normal police work, such as high-risk arrests. Since it was formed, it has responded to every community in Belknap County for about 100 incidents.

He said many of those incidents have involved people who are barricaded in their homes and armed and who have threatened to take their own lives or the lives of others.

He recalls one incident in Belmont about 10 years ago when shots fired from inside a home surrounded by police officers went through the air not far from him. The situation was eventually resolved with no one being injured.

Currently the team has officers from the Alton, Barnstead, Belmont, Gilmanton, Gilford, Laconia and Sanbornton police departments as well as from the Sheriff’s Department.

The team has a Bearcat armored response and rescue vehicle and team members wear body armor as well as special helmets, and they carry rifles with significantly higher firepower than standard police handguns.

Perkins said the group meets twice a month for training sessions that can last as long as four hours. It also takes part in training sessions at area schools and in vacant buildings that are scheduled to be demolished.

The fishing derby will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb. 3, and access to the lake is available from Manning Lake Road. Tickets are $20 and are available on the ice at the BRSOG headquarters, located at the main boat launch.

Grand prizes include a Yeti 110 cooler, Sitka Gear jacket and pants, and a Sitka Gear hooded sweatshirt and Timberline pants.

Adults and children will be eligible for the grand prizes, and children will also have a division of their own for trophies.

The heaviest fish in each category – brook trout, pickerel, perch/crappie – will be entered into the grand prize drawing. Trout must be at least 17 inches to be registered in the derby.

Hamburgers, hot dogs, soda, water, coffee and various other treats will be available for purchase. Raffle prizes, awarded hourly, include Yeti bottles, tumblers and coasters, and Sitka Gear items.

Members of the Belknap Regional Special Operations Group held a training session recently at the Belknap County complex. Shown with Belmont Police Officer Evan Boulanger and his K-9 Vito in the foreground, are Curtis Mailloux of Gilford, David Perkins of the Belknap County Sheriff’s Department, Joe Marquis of Laconia, Dustin Parent of Gilford and Adam Painchaud of Alton. A fishing derby to raise money for gear for three more people will take place Feb. 3 in Gilmanton. (Roger Amsden/Laconia Daily Sun)