I agree about PWC's.
I just purchased one last year and I have all of 11 hours on it. I don't drive it like a maniac or around others like some idiots out there.
The irony was...I was beached in a cove getting a hotdog when the cop pulled up and said "show me your fire extinguisher and horn." And I did. Thank God I had that cop there to ensure my safety
The rest of my experiences involve "typical" boats like ski boats and pontoon boats.
I find that most boat cops are less concerned with safety and more concerned with justifying their day on the water with citation revenue.
On salt, I can see stopping people to check for safety equipment. On a lake, it's pretty stupid to stop a pontoon boat and check for life jackets. Especially on a small lake. If someone isn't wearing a life jacket on a boat, and they're impaired to the point that they won't be able to swim either to the shore or long enough for help to arrive, I highly doubt that they're going to be able to grab and don a life jacket in the event of an immediate sinking.
They should focus on pulling over jet skis and boats that are being unsafe (operating too close to skiiers, going too fast in places where there are swimmers in the water, etc). Instead, you get cops that are looking for citations, rather than making it safe. If they wanna do that crap, they can do it at the marina/ramp and get a whole lot more done than wasting my money driving around in a boat harassing everyone.