Ride-Along with the Nightly Beach Patrol

During the months of July and August, the sea turtle nesting season is reaching their peak numbers for both nesting and hatchlings. On Wednesday, August 26, 2026, the full moon was in full illumination alongside a twinkling Venus right after sunset on Marco’s beach. I had the privilege of a ride-along experience with Marco’s Code Enforcement Officer, Ed Curry, hoping to learn from his wealth of knowledge of the beach during sea turtle season. We were joined briefly by Patrol Officer Noah Annicelli.

According to Officer Curry, sometime in early July while conducting a nightly sea turtle patrol, he spotted a sea turtle that had just finished laying her eggs and was making her way back to the Gulf. Curry added, it was one of nature’s most incredible moments.

Curry has been with MIPD for almost five years as a code enforcement officer. He worked for 30 years in North Bergen PD in New Jersey, retiring as a detective sergeant. His wife is also a retired detective from the same agency. They have two daughters and one worked as a Collier County Deputy Sheriff for eight years before she retired to raise her children. She just recently joined Marco PD as a reserve officer. Curry is assigned to the beach patrol during sea turtle season.

During this ride-along under a full moon, we hoped to experience the magic of sea turtle season and how nightly beach patrols mitigate the issues of artificial lighting and beach debris. Under the guided experience of Curry, we started at 8:30 and waited till 9:00 PM for the lights out, checking out condos and looking for man-made objects left on the beach.

Annicelli joined us briefly. He is part of the nightly beach patrol during sea turtle season and one of the younger officers at MIPD. The beach has a special connection to Annicelli.

Annicelli graduated from the Southwest Florida Public Safety Academy and was sworn in as a Marco Island Police Officer on October 28, 2025. His grandfather, Sergeant Jeffrey Annicelli, US Army retired, presented the certificate. Noah earned the prestigious Denis Greatish Physical Fitness and Leadership Award.

Annicelli used to work for the Charter Club Beach Rentals for two years. Curry would regularly stop by for a brief chat during his beach patrol. On one of those morning chats, Annicelli mentioned that he was interested in law enforcement and Curry encouraged him to apply, which he did.

“At first I hesitated,” said Annicelli. “I was at a point in my life that I did not know what I wanted to do, so I said, why not.”

“He met with Captain Wallace, MIPD’s Recruiting Officer, and Noah took the ball and ran with it,” said Curry.

“There is definitely a lot to think about when you make that decision to apply,” said Annicelli. “I am a big family guy so that is foremost in my mind. But growing up, I have always been told to put others before yourself. Now, I love it, and I like being out with the public keeping the community safe.”

As a nightly beach patrol, Annicelli sees his role as both education and enforcement of the City’s Beach Ordinance during sea turtle season (May 1 to October 31). Most beach walkers at night are likely from out of town and are not aware of our sea turtle ordinance. He will take a date/time stamp photo of condo light violations and refer them to Code Enforcement for follow-up. Annicelli also expressed concern that “on too much vehicular traffic and our amber lights can only shine so far and the last thing we want is to run over a tiny hatchling.”

There was a special “beach connection” between Curry and Annicelli but also an endearing generational gap (Boomer and Gen Z). “There are unique strengths from each generation, and we have probably six to eight younger police officers that have come to us in the past two years and we speak to them frequently and mentor them,” Curry said.