Police and emergency response crews in Mackinac and Chippewa counties will have one more tool at their fingertips when Mackinac County receives a hovercraft, which can be used on ice, water, and land for law enforcement and emergency operations.

The $52,000 piece of equipment, which Mackinac County Sheriff Scott Strait said would be put in service by the end of the month, is a Hoverguard 800, which uses a fourcycle, V-8 engine to power the lift system and the twin 39-inch 12- blade fans to propel the machine.

Chippewa County received its own hovercraft the week before Christmas and has already used the machine for police operations on the U.S.-Canadian border region of Lake George, said Tim McKee, Chippewa County's emergency manager and 911 coordinator.

The bill for these machines has been paid by a portion of a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, received by the Chippewa County Sheriff's office in January 2009. The grant focuses on equipment and staffing to help protect national borders, Mr. McKee said, even though the county's equipment, like the hovercraft, can be used for rescue or other operations when not being used for border protection.

"The grant provides some equipment and pays for officer and deputy overtime to better protect our borders from illegal entry, and cross-border human and drug smuggling," he said. "Because our two agencies work together, we included Mackinac County in the grant, too. After all, smuggling doesn't stop at the county line."

From a police perspective, the Mackinac Bridge and Straits of Mackinac provide a good "chokepoint" when trying to stop this kind of illegal activity, Mr. McKee said.

"They will be used in some of the shallow areas closer to shore," he said of the hovercrafts. "It's going to allow us to be a little bit safer on the ice."

The hovercrafts are built by Hovertechnics, a company based in Eau Claire, a city in southwest Michigan. The model purchased by both county sheriff offices is identical to hovercraft used by the U.S. Coast Guard, and Mr. McKee said the Coast Guard will assist the other agencies with maintenance training and operational requirements for the machines.

"We can share it," he said. "What we are doing is essentially putting another asset here for all the other agencies to make use of."

Sheriff Strait said he plans to train at least four deputies in Mackinac County to operate the hovercraft. The machine can fit six passengers, which he said could accommodate people being rescued, suspects being arrested, or scuba divers.

The vessel is 850 pounds, 16 feet long, eight feet wide, and can travel at 35 miles per hour on calm water and up to 60 miles per hour on smooth ice. The machine is rated for waves of up to two feet and can make both 180 and 360- degree turns on land, ice, or water.

The primary function of Mackinac County's hovercraft will be to secure borders and assist U.S. Border Patrol, Sheriff Strait said . Sheriff Strait said he hopes to have the hovercraft in time to test the technology out during an ice rescue training exercise in Clark Township January 23.

Mackinac County will also receive a $47,000 24-foot patrol boat from E.J. Mertaugh Boat Works in Hessel, also paid for by the same grant that the sheriff's office plans to use primarily for border patrol and protection.