Bpt police perform dive drills in cold

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WTNH) -- Scuba diving drill's are something that Bridgeport Police train for regularly but with the bitter cold temperature, Wednesday's drill was especially important, making sure they can perform rescues in any condition.

This isn't a Carribean cruise and despite the temperatures in the single digits these Bridgeport police officers are diving, going under.

"We're all used to it its just what we do for us its not a big deal," said Lt. Brian Fitzgerald, Bridgeport Police Dept.

In fact the nine members Scuba team consider the cold an added bonus to the training exercise. This experience helps them cope when the call in a cold snap is for real.

He was still dripping wet but News 8 had to ask the Lieutenant what they are wearing to endure and actually enjoy diving on a day like this.

"These are actually dry suits and as the name implies it keeps you dry underneath so you can wear whatever kind of insulation you want underneath them to keep warm. We are all wearing fleece jumpsuits," said Lt. Fitzgerald.

They've got those special suits on so they're not really trying to stay warm. They are working under water actually practicing evidence recovery.

"The water that we dive in, the visibility is not good today. It's next to zero so we set up search patterns using lines and weights under water. We basically make a grid and we have a search area that we want to look in," said Lt. Fitzgerald.