This is precisely what caused me to leave. I was a member of a local dive S&R team for years, serving a stint as Capt, and also on the board of directors. The level of experience on that team (excluding myself) far surpasses any of the SO, PD, and FD teams. In fact a couple of it's senior members trained the leaders of their teams. They are well equiped and ready to go on short notice, at virtually no cost to the public.

After 911 and the formation of Homeland Security, the competition for grant money, became a big money grab. We were viewed as the competition and would only get called once the agencies abandoned their searches. It didn't help matters when on a few occasions, we were successful where they had failed. We were always gracious and never made a big deal about it.

The breaking point, for me, was when a teenager jumped off a cliff and never surfaced. It was a holiday weekend and we had volunteered to post divers at one of the popular parks. When the call went out, we informed them that we had divers geared and available. We were ignored and after the SO realized they couldn't mobilize a team until the next morning, we were called at 8 PM that evening. I lived within 15 minutes of the site and when I arrived, the game warden had found her body with a grappling hook. The mother was on-site and I will never forget the sound of her wailing. I cannot believe that they (SO) were willing to put off the search until the next day

Now, I only do Dive RESCUE , for a National boat racing association. No turf wars there and we are always welcomed.