Maryland Department of Natural Resources

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First Ever Life Jacket Video Contest!

For Police agencies, and Fire Depts. show us your life jackets!!

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DNR is holding it's first wear a life jacket video contest. We invite all police and fire companies to submit videos of their members wearing their Coast Guard approved life jackets and having some good clean fun. Winners will be featured on the DNR website.

Help spread the message, life jackets save lives!

Wearing a life jacket is extremely important when you’re on the water. If you’re boating, kayaking, swimming, or fishing. It can save your life. Here are some benefits of wearing a life jacket:

  1. Life jackets are designed to keep you afloat by providing buoyancy. They can help you stay afloat and keep your head above water, even if you are tired or injured.
  2. Life jackets can give you more time to be rescued and increase your chances of survival.
  3. Today’s life jackets are designed to be lightweight and comfortable; they’ve come a long way from the classic orange collars that you tie under your chin.
  4. Effective April 1, 2010, Maryland law states that all children under the age of 13 must WEAR a United States Coast Guard approved Personal Flotation Device (life jacket - Type I, II, III or V) while underway on a recreational vessel under 21 feet in length on Maryland waters.
  5. Set a good example. By wearing a life jacket, you can set a good example for others, encouraging them to do the same. This is especially important if you are boating with young passengers.
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OFFICIAL RULES


​MUST BE A CAREER POLICE OFFICER OR CAREER/VOLUNTEER FIREMAN TO ENTER.​

BY PARTICIPATING IN THE WEAR YOUR LIFEJACKET TO WORK DAY CHALLENGE (CONTEST), EACH PARTICIPANT REPRESENTS AND WARRANTS THAT THEY MEET THE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS DETAILED WITHIN THESE OFFICIAL RULES AND ACKNOWLEDGES THAT FAILURE TO MEET ALL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION.  ENTRY CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES.  ALL ENTRIES (VIDEOS) AND REQUESTS BECOME THE PROPERTY OF THE MARYLAND DNR (SPONSOR) AND WILL ​NOT BE RETURNED OR ACKNOWLEDGED.  

Contest begins at April 21, 2023 and the deadline for submission is June 30, 2023 at 5pm.

ELIGIBILITY:  Contest is open to legal residents of the State of Maryland.  All participants must be employees of a State or Municipal Police Agency or an employee/volunteer of a County Fire Department.  Anyone under the age of 18, must have parental permission to be a part of a video.  Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations.  Void where prohibited by law.  Sponsor’s decisions are final and binding on all matters.

HOW TO ENTER:  Take your video and save it. Video should ​be .mp4, or .mov format and should not exceed 50MB in size or exceed two minutes in length. Reach out to Anthony Burrows at anthony.burrows1@maryland.gov or call 410-279-6094. He will assist you with your video submission.​​
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Video must be taken by Entrant (or Entrant must own the rights to the video if it was not taken by the Entrant), can be in color or black and white, and uploaded in compliance with the Contest requirements.  All entries must be received during the contest entry period.  For the purposes of these Official Rules, receipt of an entry occurs when Sponsor’s server (or Website) records the entry information (resulting from the Entrant clicking on the “Submit” button.  Once you submit your entry, your submission is final and may not be modified or edited.  Any automated computer receipt (such as one confirming delivery of entry) does not constitute proof of actual receipt by Sponsor for purposes of these Official Rules.  Entrants are subject to all notices posted on website, including, but not limited to Sponsor’s privacy policy.  All entries eligible for the Contest will be prescreened by the Sponsor within five business days of submission prior to posting on the website.

By submitting video, Entrant understands and grants permission for the video to be posted on Website for viewing by visitors to the Website.  Sponsor and Contest Entities are not responsible for any unauthorized third-party use of any video.

Except where prohibited by law, entry submission grants the Sponsor the right in perpetuity to reproduce, publish, use, edit, adjust, modify, abridge, condense, sublicense, and excerpt such video and/or comments in any way, in any and all media, without limitation and without compensation to Entrant.  Submission of video in the Contest further constitutes Entrant’s consent to irrevocably assign and transfer to Sponsor any and all rights, title, and interest in ant to the video, including, without limitation, all copyrights.  The Sponsor may publish and/or promote video, or a portion of a video.  If a video, or a portion of video is selected for publication and/or promotional purposes, it does not imply that it is a winning video in this Contest, nor does it create a confidential relationship between you and the Sponsor or any of its respective affiliates or subsidiaries.

Video dialog/audio must be in English and must be the original work of the Entrant, may not have been previously published, may not have won previous awards, and must not infringe upon copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property, or other rights of any person or entity.  Sponsor reserves the right to request proof of permissions, in writing, for anyone under the age of 18 from the Entrant, signed by the legal guardian of the participant.  By submitting a video, the Entrant warrants and represents that he, she, and/or any persons appearing or who are identifiable in the video consent to the submission of the video in this Contest, and to its posting on Website in connection with the Contest.  Entrant agrees to fully indemnify and defend Sponsor and the Contest Entities from any and all third-party infringement claims that may arise out of its breach of these representations and warranties.  

Entries must comply with the following content guidelines to be eligible:

Meets one of these themes:
  • ​Always wear your lifejacket when you go out on the water.
  • Wear Your Lifejacket To Work Day 
  • Lifejackets won’t work if you won’t wear them.
  • Does not exceed two minutes in length
  • All participants must be wearing a US Coast Guard approved lifejacket (appropriate for their age and fit appropriately).
  • All lifejackets must be worn properly, zipped, buckled, etc.
  • Content cannot be unnecessarily violent, derogatory of any ethnicity, race, gender, religion, profession, or age group, sexually explicit or suggestive, profane or pornographic, or contain nudity.
  • Content cannot promote alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing), any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous, or any particular political agenda or message.
  • Content cannot be obscene or offensive, endorse any form of hate or hate group.
  • Content cannot defame, misrepresent, or contain disparaging remarks about other people or companies.
  • Content cannot contain trademarks or logos of other companies, other than the Agency for which you are representing.   Must not contain personal identification, such as license numbers, personal names, or contain any email addresses, or street addresses.
  • Content cannot contain copyrighted materials owned by others (including photographs, sculptures, paintings and other works of art or images published on or in websites, television, movies, or other media) without permission.  Music may be used, because the videos will not be sold and there is not a cash prize.
  • Content cannot contain materials embodying the names, likenesses, photography or other indicia identifying any person, living or dead, without permission.
  • Content cannot communicate messages or images inconsistent with the positive images and/or goodwill to which Sponsor wishes to associate; and
  • Content cannot depict and cannot itself violate any law or otherwise.
  • Videos should not exceed two minutes in length.  Videos exceeding two minutes may still be featured but are not eligible to win.
  • Plagiarism will result in disqualification.

All entries must be received no later than June 30​, 2023 at 5pm.  Entries submitted after the deadline may still be featured, but will not be eligible to win.

Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry for any reason, in its sole and absolute discretion.

Winner will be chosen by the members of the general public who view the videos and cast a vote.  Winner will be notified and featured on the DNR/NRP Websites.

Winner will be presented with a plaque they can display at their station, and will be a featured segment on the DNR/NRP Website.  Plaque will be presented in person by representatives of the Boating Safety Unit of the Maryland Natural Resources Police and a photo will be taken for publication.  

Winner will be notified via email, or telephone within 14 days of the Contest End Date.  Winner may be required to complete and return a notarized Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and where permissible, a Publicity Release (Affidavit/Release), within seven days of date specified on notification, or an alternate winner may be determined. If an Affidavit/Release and/or if any required document(s) is not returned within such time period, or if a selected winner cannot accept or receive the prize for any reason, or if they are not in compliance with these Official Rules, the prize will be forfeited and an alternate winner may be determined.  Prize will be awarded within 30 days of verification.  Prize is not redeemable for cash.

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY:  Entrants agree to these Official Rules and the decisions of the general public who place the votes for the best video submission.  

Entrants assume all liability for any injury, including death or damaged caused or claimed to be caused by participation in this Contest.

Entrants hereby agree that any and all disputes, claims, causes of action, or controversies (claims) arising out of, or in connection with, this Contest shall be resolved, upon election by Entrant and Sponsor and results of public vote can be produced if needed.

LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY FOR WEB ACCESS:  The Sponsor is not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by the Website users, or tampering or hacking, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilization in the Contest, and assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction, or unauthorized access to the Website.  

Only one entry per Firehouse/Police Station may be submitted.
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