How to use "patrol"

We were having a discussion today about this article:

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/03/14/japan.pirates/

Somebody said "The Self Defense Force can patrol pirates". The mistake is that the verb "patrol" should be used with a place, like this:

• Police patrol rich neighborhoods often.
• Police don't patrol my neighborhood often enough, so it's not safe.
• It seems my boss is always patrolling our office, so I can't relax.

So, to correct the sentence above:

• The Self Defense Force can patrol the coast to catch pirates.