How many of you have ever been "harrassed" by boat cops?

[AMF]

Normally I see these reports of pro athletes and their run-ins with the law and tend to think..."you can take the thug out of the ghetto but you can't take the ghetto out of the thug."

But this issue with Cedric Benson made me raise an eyebrow. I guess my own personal experience has given me some prejudice toward the whole situation.

I've been stopped so many times by "boat fuzz" on the water and all of them, every single experience has been a negative experience. I've been pulled over on a Jet Ski (not really pulled over....it was beached and the prick just wanted to harrass me and see all the bells/whistles...hoping he could write a ticket for no fire extinguisher or no audio device or bad registration). I've been pulled over on a pontoon boat (with 10 people on board), much like the situation in Benson's case. The prick cop insisted on making me do a field sobriety test (which I completely passed) and only after I threatened him with a formal complaint and all the witnesses on the boat did he drop the issue of dragging me back to shore to do a BAC.

I've been pulled over on a ski boat....you name it. All of those run ins, the cops were neither courteous or polite and to be honest, they were looking more for some reason to issue a citation than I think they were actually concerned with safety.

I've partied in Lake of the Ozarks, where you have 10,000 examples of unsafe activities in the water (people operating boats around swimmers in the water, etc) and the cops are more interested in issuing citations for not enough life jackets, then they are about truly "policing" the environment and keeping it safe.

The details of the Benson case are starting to come out now and it makes me laugh to no end that cops are dumb enough to do this crap in front of 15 witnesses. Apparently, there's pictures that are going to surface of the cops "struggle" with Benson. One witness also stated that she's been boating with Benson 6 times now in TX and they've been stopped every single time. (the term improper search/seizure is eventually going to find it's way into boating police discussions).

I totally respect law enforcment (individuals) but for the life of me, I find that 9/10 encounters with law enforcement tend to be negative, because they're always forced to execute the law based on citations or tickets, rather than any sort of effective or pragmatic measures to keep people safe or keep good order.

[Wayne Maybury]

I have been a boater just about all of my adult life and never had a negative run-in with the coast guard or with the police on the water.

On one occasion I was boarded, they were very polite and when they heard my side of the story, they quickly realized that the reason they were called was stupid and just left us alone. I offered them a beer. They laughed and said they couldn't have one while in uniform.

My boat has been inspected several times and in every case the officers have been just doing their job.

I have to admit that if I was an officer, I would probably go after jet skis as I hate the stupid things. I have seen them go round and round ten feet from shore, try to run over ducks, jump the wake from bigger boats, or zip between anchored boats. I know that not all jet ski owners operate this way but unfortunately, too many do. The owner of our marina refuses to sell them gas just to try to keep them away from the marina.

Wayne

[AMF]

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.

[imagine2frolic]

Florida is brutal on the water. I have had both courteous, and negative boardings. Once while attempting to enter Miami from the Bahamas. I was stopped. searched, and holes drilled into my collision bulkheads. The Coasties were trying to play good cop, bad cop to make me confess to a crime. After 3 hours of B.S. I went a little beserk on them. They packed up their stuff, and left.

The driver of the orange rubber duckie slammed me three times while approaching me. Less than 8 knots of wind, and I was stopped dead holding the bows into the wind. Talk about some bad boating skills.....WHEW!!!!!!

[Smokingcobra2]

Here in ct its the local' police and dep on the rivers and inland waterway. Every town has a police boat and they need to justify them by writing tickets. Go down the ct river 30 miles to the ocean on a weeknd and i promise you will see 2-3 dozen water cops out there. I have been stopped on all size boats from 18ft to my 34 , most are polite but they do waste my time. On a two hour ride down river i have been stopped 3 times jsut for saftey inspections by different town cops.
joeg

[imagine2frolic]

Maybe we need a huge logo stamped on our foreheads so that the next cop will know we have stopped already?

You haven't been stopped until you have been boarded by the Mexican Navy. 6 guys board my 30ft. boat, and four are carrying machine guns. None over the age of 20 with a lack of communication. It can be a little bit tense!!!!!!!!! See the Avatar with the Mexican warship in the background....lolololol

[fsstnotch]

The officers are always the bad guys until they save your life....

Just because they boarded you and found nothing, doesn't mean they didn't use the same tact to board another boat that they found SERIOUS problems. If it didn't happen, they wouldn't be out there.... protecting YOU! Most of the times that I have EVER seen any form of police officer be unpolite is when the person being searched, ticketed, whatever, is being rude! How are they supposed to act when they are given ATTITUDE for doing their jobs? Do you think it could be possible that them checking you for life jackets or other small ticketable items could ever lead to larger things?

I worked counter Drug out of Ecuador for 4 months. You would be AMAZED at the number of boats that leave that area every single week bound for the U.S.!!! We busted 1 boat, just looked like your everyday fishing vessel that was carrying 11 ton of cocaine!!! 11 TON!!! That was 1 of many that were busted or sank in the 4 months I was there! They're tough to catch because as soon as they see you, they're tossing stuff overboard or burning the boat.

Cut them some slack, show some courtesy yourself and you will likely get some back in return. And I'm not saying there aren't some D!ckhead cops out there, but I doubt you have run across all of them!

[427 S/O]

AMF, if you beat them to death with your endless paragraphs like you do here!, I'm not at all surprised they tend to scrutinized you a little more!!!!!!!!!.

[AMF]

Originally Posted by 427 S/O

AMF, if you beat them to death with your endless paragraphs like you do here!, I'm not at all surprised they tend to scrutinized you a little more!!!!!!!!!.

Not with the popo. The difference between Cedric Benson and I is that harrassment or not, once the cop says turn around and put your paws behind your back, I do what he says. I'd rather fight with my lawyer than hit his billy club with my face.

Like I said,.....on salt it's one thing. Stupid people who don't have proper safety gear cost the taxpayer lots of money. But on a lake it amounts to nothing more than harrassment and a revenue stream for each department. If they want to be useful, they should stand at the dock and inspect everyone's drain plugs to ensure they're in before going under way

There's a far cry between issuing citations and keeping people safe.

[fsstnotch]

I guess we should do away with traffic violations all together based on your standards...

[mrmustang]

30+ years of boating, lakes, rivers, bays, oceans in everything from Sunfish to 72 foot Hatteras and have yet to be harassed by the boat police, shore patrol, or coastguard. Sure I've been asked to heave to a number of times, but never once did I feel I was being harassed. Wake jumping in Barnaget Bay in a 18 foot Donzi with four friends aboard got us noticed and asked to heave to. A firm talking to (hey I was 16) about how dangerous it was to do this in a crowded intercoastal channel got a yes sir from all of us...Days later we were back at it .....Going a little fast in a no wake zone with a cigarette boat in Florida got us a verbal warning (I was officially in the co drivers seat at 19 years old), and oh yeah, running in from an approaching storm in Barneget Inlet at roughly 35 knots (have you ever been through Barneget Inlet) with our running lights off (blown fuse with no spares aboard) got us in a bit of hot water with the coast guard who assumed we were drug runners..Again a real eye opener at 22 years old to stare down the barrel of a machine gun pointed at you........But again, that is about it..Add another 20 plus years to this without another incident and it becomes clear that age has brought me wisdom to stay under the radar these days ................


Bill S.

[AMF]

Originally Posted by fsstnotch

I guess we should do away with traffic violations all together based on your standards...

Not at all. I just don't think the cops should be able to pull you over at random whim to check for any number of citation type violations. They can accomplish that with safety inspections (which many states do).

Again, if they're so concerned about life jackets, they could check 100 times more people at the marina and be 100 times less of a pain in the ass in doing so. It's not about effectiveness, it's about revenue and money.

If I truly wanted to ensure everyone had the proper safety equipment, I could check way more people going to and from the water at the slip/ramp than trolling around out in the water.

[fsstnotch]

Cars are equiped with seatbelts... but you can't make people wear them.

What do you do when people fail to follow rules? you hit them where it counts, the wallet. if they stand at the marina and tell you to put life vests in your boat, they are costing you money, and you PROBABLY aren't going to learn anything. Sometimes the only way to make people learn is to hit them in the wallet. If you DID get a ticket for failure to follow rules which you know about... what's the problem?

I have this same arguement on the ford-trucks forum with a 20yr old lightning owner claiming the police are harrassing him. he was pulled over for racing and hte officer gave him a speeding ticket. pretty generous if you ask me. then a couple weeks later he got a fix it for having too dark of tint. It's not hard to abide by rules. He said he was rude to the officer about the tint (which was like 5% when legal was like 30%). Then he's claiming the police are out to get him because he is black. WTF... are you kidding me?! He's from GA!

Follow the damn rules and be courteous and you will not have a problem.

[BeanCounter]

AMF,

We've had a house in the cove across from TanTarA for almost 30 years. We have a Chris Craft, a pontoon boat, and four waverunners. In all that time we have never been stopped by the patrol. Maybe you need to stay out of party cove.

[Wayne Maybury]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

You haven't been stopped until you have been boarded by the Mexican Navy. 6 guys board my 30ft. boat, and four are carrying machine guns. None over the age of 20 with a lack of communication. It can be a little bit tense!!!!!!!!! See the Avatar with the Mexican warship in the background....lolololol

NO THANKS, I WILL PASS.

Wayne

[427sharpe]

Boat here on the lakes, never had a problem with the wave cops. Only one's I see them badger are the obvious jerks (wave runners thru swimming areas) and the drunks. It seems they overlook the 'open containers' if you are behaving rationally. Only equipment checks I have ever been thru have been dockside, before putting out.

[AMF]

Originally Posted by BeanCounter

AMF,

We've had a house in the cove across from TanTarA for almost 30 years. We have a Chris Craft, a pontoon boat, and four waverunners. In all that time we have never been stopped by the patrol. Maybe you need to stay out of party cove.

Agreed. It might have something to do with the fact that you have a little "MO" on the side of your boat as opposed to an out of state registration. But cops would NEVER target out of state boaters right

As far as getting a citation, I didn't get one. I had the proper number of life jackets and my registration was up to date and I wasn't impaired. That's why I'm saying it was harassment, because instead of just saying "thanks for your time folks" the cops kept digging and digging, trying to find something to give us a ticket for.

The irony was that we were a bunch of "old" fogies comparitvely speaking (all in our mid to late 20's) and weren't even the maniacs on the water putting people in danger (I saw everything from retards running off the top of houseboats jumping into water only a few feet from boats under way to you name it.)

I went to party cove three years and by the third year, it had gotten so rediculous that we'll probably pass and never go back (kinda like New Orleans was before Katrina or Savannah at St. Pat's on a weekend....just way too damn many people).

As far as hitting my wallet is concerned, it didn't. Cause I didn't get a ticket. You can hand out citations at the ramp, just as easily as you can pull people over in the water and hand them out. God forbid that you actually PREVENT someone from going under way without proper safety equipment....that wouldn't bring in any money, but it sure would be a lot more effective (and would actually SAVE taxpayers money in the long run).

Like I said, I don't know how many times I've seen swamped craft that need assistance, because the moron didn't put his drain plug back in and his bilge pump hasn't worked in years. That's more of a drain on resources and a danger than anything.

Write tickets for unsafe acts on the water. People who speed by boats with the ski flag out (too close). Idiot jet skiers who fly by the shore and docks too close. All of that's fine with me. But to harass people who are just enjoying the water and having a good time is stupid.

Like I said, it's all about revenue these days and much less about "protect and serve." When I was a kid...if you were on the side of the road long enough, you could bet that a trooper would eventually stop to see if you needed assistance. Today, don't hold your breath....you're more likely to see half a dozen of them drive by than you are to get one to stop and assist. There's no money in helping a disabled vehicle...

Call the cops today and see how long it takes for someone to show up at your door. Hours....days...even. We have murderers and child molestors and rapists on the loose running rampant.....but municipalities think it's more important to police some idiot who isn't smart enough to have a life jacket handy With limited resources, it becomes VERY clear that the system is flawed. I don't really blame the individual officers....it's the system that encourages citations and revenue over effectiveness and real impact on safety and good order.

[Joe Wicked]

AMF,
I am not LE, nor have I ever been in LE, but I do have friends, and I do have relatives who are. What I have learned is the majority of the time that the officers will keep digging is because experience has taught them that seeing XXXXXXX they commonly find YYYYYYYY. This is not 100%, but my uncle (Sheriffs Deputy in Georgia) has personally arrested several wanted felons from just a random stop. Most transportation drug busts happen from this as well. His department is required to have a set number of "Contacts" per shift. This does not mean tickets, it means stops. It is up to the officer to issue the citation. I would be willing to bet that the truth of the matter on the stop was that they picked your boat at a distance as a random stop, and that their procedure was to inspect everything regardless of what was found initially. I don't mean this to sound like I am bashing because I am not. Just what my personal experiences and acquaintances have lead me to believe

[Wayne Maybury]

AMF

You talked about people putting their boats in the water with the drain plug out. How about all the people that go out and do not check the gas. They get out there, somewhere, but they need a tow to get back in. Half the time these people don't even have any idea where they are located.

I am a sailor so I pay special attention to the buoys. Several years ago I told a buddy with a stern drive "not to cut inside that green buoy". He said that we sailors worry too much. Several weeks later that short cut cost him a prop because the water level had gone down a foot or two. At least he had a spare prop on board and he know how to change it so he didn't need a tow.

Too many people with little or no experience buy a boat, take it out, have a couple of drinks, and then get themselves in trouble.

Wayne

[fsstnotch]

Originally Posted by AMF

Agreed. It might have something to do with the fact that you have a little "MO" on the side of your boat as opposed to an out of state registration. But cops would NEVER target out of state boaters right

As far as getting a citation, I didn't get one. I had the proper number of life jackets and my registration was up to date and I wasn't impaired. That's why I'm saying it was harassment, because instead of just saying "thanks for your time folks" the cops kept digging and digging, trying to find something to give us a ticket for.

The irony was that we were a bunch of "old" fogies comparitvely speaking (all in our mid to late 20's) and weren't even the maniacs on the water putting people in danger (I saw everything from retards running off the top of houseboats jumping into water only a few feet from boats under way to you name it.)

I went to party cove three years and by the third year, it had gotten so rediculous that we'll probably pass and never go back (kinda like New Orleans was before Katrina or Savannah at St. Pat's on a weekend....just way too damn many people).

As far as hitting my wallet is concerned, it didn't. Cause I didn't get a ticket. You can hand out citations at the ramp, just as easily as you can pull people over in the water and hand them out. God forbid that you actually PREVENT someone from going under way without proper safety equipment....that wouldn't bring in any money, but it sure would be a lot more effective (and would actually SAVE taxpayers money in the long run).

Like I said, I don't know how many times I've seen swamped craft that need assistance, because the moron didn't put his drain plug back in and his bilge pump hasn't worked in years. That's more of a drain on resources and a danger than anything.

Write tickets for unsafe acts on the water. People who speed by boats with the ski flag out (too close). Idiot jet skiers who fly by the shore and docks too close. All of that's fine with me. But to harass people who are just enjoying the water and having a good time is stupid.

Like I said, it's all about revenue these days and much less about "protect and serve." When I was a kid...if you were on the side of the road long enough, you could bet that a trooper would eventually stop to see if you needed assistance. Today, don't hold your breath....you're more likely to see half a dozen of them drive by than you are to get one to stop and assist. There's no money in helping a disabled vehicle...

Call the cops today and see how long it takes for someone to show up at your door. Hours....days...even. We have murderers and child molestors and rapists on the loose running rampant.....but municipalities think it's more important to police some idiot who isn't smart enough to have a life jacket handy With limited resources, it becomes VERY clear that the system is flawed. I don't really blame the individual officers....it's the system that encourages citations and revenue over effectiveness and real impact on safety and good order.

Now you are just being ignorant. No offense... but seriously!!! I see officers ALL THE TIME pulled over helping, or at a MINIMUM, making it safer for the stranded person from getting hit by a passing car.

The likeliness that you were stopped because you are from out of state is HIGH! Why? Because people take their boats to other states and, out of ignorance, don't bother to check the laws in said state. Chances are HIGH that boat is not complying with standards.

I didn't mean that you were hit in the wallet. Fact is though.. that is the only way people learn. Either through monetary punishment or through an accident. I'm sure you are the same person who would be on here crying if some drunk boater crashed into you on the lake. Just because you ARE meeting standards, doesn't mean EVERYONE else is. Unfortunately, the people who don't comply don't have flashing red lights over thir boats which would keep the random searches of YOUR boat from happening. Otherwise, the random searches are for prevention. If they were "out to get you" they would have found something.