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Dive Rescue & Recovery
The Burleigh County Sheriff's Department has been the home of a Dive Rescue and Recovery Team since 1980. The team was started after a plane crash in the Missouri River showed that there was a need for trained divers with good equipment who could respond to emergency water calls.
The team started with 4 divers and an old, military ambulance and has grown to 13 divers, 4 boats, a 24 foot dive trailer with generator capabilities and 3/4 ton vehicles to pull the trailers.
The Dive Team is commanded by Major Gary Schaffer. The team is made up of officers within the department and the Bismarck Rural Fire Department. The team trains once a month in a variety of places including lakes, rivers and the University of Mary pool. Training consists of ice dives, search patterns and underwater obstacle courses in blackout conditions.
The team is equipped with state of the art dive equipment giving the team the ability to deploy divers in even the most adverse conditions.
The team has handled a variety of calls including, evidence/property recovery, body recovery, and vehicle recovery. In addition to responding to calls to the department, the team has assisted the Bismarck Police Department, Ft. Peck, Montana, and approximately 13 counties across the State.
The Dive Team has obtained equipment from donations by service clubs, state and federal grant programs, and departmental budgeting.
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