SCUBA expert shows them how it’s done

The Vindicator/William D. Lewis

For nearly 50 years, Commander William Hack of the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department dive team has organized volunteers and inspired generations of new divers at yearly presentations at local libraries. Monday, he showed the SCUBA gear to John Kuharich, 12, of Youngstown at the Boardman Library branch. “I had one boy, about 12 years old, help me carry my equipment into the library and years later, he ended up diving with me,” Hack said.

“I’m still not sure about swimming, but I think I’d like diving,” John said.

The Mahoning County dive team consists of volunteers who provide their own equipment and search the lakes for crime evidence, such as guns, knives and bodies. For a call, usually 10 divers are dispatched from the 35 volunteers who come from a variety of professions. Some are attorneys, others police officers and still others are doctors, Hack said.

Even though the Mahoning Valley isn’t a coastal region, there is a definite need for divers because of the many lakes in the area and the level of crime, he said. “People think that if they throw something in the water, no one will find it,” Hack said. “That’s absolutely wrong. We will find it.”