Looking for a little bit of direction here. I've been recently assigned to
my department's Marine Unit. I've been a cop for 15 years. I lived in NJ at
the shore around boats most of my life, but never owned one. I rarely even
went out on boats except for fishing or waterskiing. I moved to Florida in
late 2000, and I'm still working as a cop (just in a nicer place). As a
result of some administrative changes in my department, I was assigned to
the Marine Unit. I've completed the necessary training and such, but one
thing is lacking: experience. I'll try to get to the point - I'm open for
comments and opinions. I know what the law says, and I know what my job is,
but I try to use more common sense than what the law may actually say in
black & white. What do you (as boaters) feel the most important issues are
for the Police to deal with on the water? Would you like to see more O.U.I.
enforcement? More vessel stops for no wake zone infractions? More safety
inspections? More after dark patrols of inlets, channels, and harbor areas?
You tell me. I'm asking for your honest opinions here. As a rule I use more
common sense than anything on the job. I treat people fairly, and as a
result I rarely ever have to appear in court. I would like to do the same on
the water. Here's your chance to make a difference, because I will take
every opinion into consideration. Thanks for your help.

swatcop wrote:

Looking for a little bit of direction here. I've been recently assigned to
my department's Marine Unit. I've been a cop for 15 years. I lived in NJ at
the shore around boats most of my life, but never owned one. I rarely even
went out on boats except for fishing or waterskiing. I moved to Florida in
late 2000, and I'm still working as a cop (just in a nicer place). As a
result of some administrative changes in my department, I was assigned to
the Marine Unit. I've completed the necessary training and such, but one
thing is lacking: experience. I'll try to get to the point - I'm open for
comments and opinions. I know what the law says, and I know what my job is,
but I try to use more common sense than what the law may actually say in
black & white. What do you (as boaters) feel the most important issues are
for the Police to deal with on the water? Would you like to see more O.U.I.
enforcement? More vessel stops for no wake zone infractions? More safety
inspections? More after dark patrols of inlets, channels, and harbor areas?
You tell me. I'm asking for your honest opinions here. As a rule I use more
common sense than anything on the job. I treat people fairly, and as a
result I rarely ever have to appear in court. I would like to do the same on
the water. Here's your chance to make a difference, because I will take
every opinion into consideration. Thanks for your help.

More DUI enforcement, more anti-noise enforcement, more "reckless
boater" enforcement. Most folks I know who enjoy the water don't want to
be annoyed or put at risk by idiots who do not behave decently.

Good luck and be very careful. Most of the boaters you encounter will
treat you decently and with respect, but a couple years ago out in the
Chesapeake Bay, some unknowns assaulted a woman DNR watercop and it was
damned serious. I seemed to recall the assailants were druggies, and
they either beat or shot the officer.

I'm not sure, but I think I knew the watercop in question. She had
frequently checked out boats in our area for proper registration and
fishing licenses, and was very pleasant about it, so much so that one of
my fishing buddies tried to ask her out on a date (she was very pretty).
I've not seen the woman since I heard about the incident. This was, oh,
probably three years ago.









--
Email sent to is never read.

"swatcop" wrote in message
...
Here's your chance to make a difference, because I will take
every opinion into consideration. Thanks for your help.

Here in Rochester NY, there's a busy area where the sherrifs behave like
giant mosquitoes, pestering anyone who looks wrong. I think it's a great
idea, even though they've bugged me frequently to check my fishing license.
I have to imagine they nail people for more serious stuff. So, I'd say "Be
the biggest pain in the ass you can".

My pet peeve involves something that happens constantly when I'm fishing.
The bay here is about a mile wide, and from side to side, it's deep enough
for any boat. There's one spot where small fishing boats have been
congregating for years because that's where the perch hang out. The spot's
about an acre in size. Without fail, there's at least one moron per hour who
feels the need to crank past the fishermen at top speed, throwing 3-5 ft
wakes.

I don't know the official legal name of the law covering wakes, but when my
son's in the boat, I call it "attempted murder". One of these days,
someone's gonna get a bullet in their fuel tank.

Do something about that, wherever you work.

You can go by the book enforcing any laws at your disposal related to the
operation of jet skis...

"swatcop" wrote in message
...
Looking for a little bit of direction here. I've been recently assigned to
my department's Marine Unit. I've been a cop for 15 years. I lived in NJ
at
the shore around boats most of my life, but never owned one. I rarely even
went out on boats except for fishing or waterskiing. I moved to Florida in
late 2000, and I'm still working as a cop (just in a nicer place). As a
result of some administrative changes in my department, I was assigned to
the Marine Unit. I've completed the necessary training and such, but one
thing is lacking: experience. I'll try to get to the point - I'm open for
comments and opinions. I know what the law says, and I know what my job
is,
but I try to use more common sense than what the law may actually say in
black & white. What do you (as boaters) feel the most important issues are
for the Police to deal with on the water? Would you like to see more
O.U.I.
enforcement? More vessel stops for no wake zone infractions? More safety
inspections? More after dark patrols of inlets, channels, and harbor
areas?
You tell me. I'm asking for your honest opinions here. As a rule I use
more
common sense than anything on the job. I treat people fairly, and as a
result I rarely ever have to appear in court. I would like to do the same
on
the water. Here's your chance to make a difference, because I will take
every opinion into consideration. Thanks for your help.

From my experience, where the cops are NOT is patrolling almost anywhere after
dark. I bet more constituants care about after dark piracy along the water
front than all the traffic tickets you can write.
Getting rocked by a wake or hearing a loud boat is a minor irritation compared
to waking up and finding your engine gone.
Other than that I imagine a boat cop is juat like being in the roller. You
spend most of your shift clearing radio calls.

I'll echo Harry's points above -- DUI, noise, and careless & reckless. If
your jurisdiction couples careless with reckless, you can probably squeeze
even more of the yahoos than with reckless alone. Depending on what part of
FL, your department probably has some pretty well thought out patrol and
enforcement objectives, but those three would probably yield the greatest
aggregate benefit to the boating community and the public at large.

Thanks for asking, and thanks for doing your job.

JG

Hi!

This might parrot what others said, but in my opinon the more you can hound
wreckless jet-ski's the better. hehe And then of course wreckless boaters
in general.

OUI is important too, but use your head. A couple guys out in a rowboat with
a 5hp Jonnyrude, fishing, with a 12 pack in the cooler ain't the real big
problem, it's the speedboats with intoxicated operators that think they're
Mario Andretti. LOL.

Equipment checks are a good way to "bust balls" of someone you stopped for
operation. But to stop people *just* to do equipment checks is annoying as
all hell. There's enough strange operatoin out there to keep you busy.

And lastly, don't "become" the problem. There are a lot of narrower places
that just by inserting your boat in the middle - you *create* a no wake
area - this really ****es off people pulling skiiers and tubes etc. They
have have to drop of plane or get ticketed by Marine Patroll *because* of
the damn Marine Patroll boat. So...in narrow areas stay near the edges
please.

And as a personal favor. grin Older couples often don't have an extra
person to "spot" for the skiier.Yes, I know the law (in most states)
requires a spotter, but it's often just me and my wife. So I put a rearview
mirror on the boat and call the German shepard my spotter. A warning will do
just fine - as we're at least *trying* to get it right with the mirror.
Sometimes you just can't find a spotter without kidnapping someone - a worse
crime. Don't make me have to get a blow up doll.grin


-W







"swatcop" wrote in message
...
Looking for a little bit of direction here. I've been recently assigned to
my department's Marine Unit. I've been a cop for 15 years. I lived in NJ
at
the shore around boats most of my life, but never owned one. I rarely even
went out on boats except for fishing or waterskiing. I moved to Florida in
late 2000, and I'm still working as a cop (just in a nicer place). As a
result of some administrative changes in my department, I was assigned to
the Marine Unit. I've completed the necessary training and such, but one
thing is lacking: experience. I'll try to get to the point - I'm open for
comments and opinions. I know what the law says, and I know what my job
is,
but I try to use more common sense than what the law may actually say in
black & white. What do you (as boaters) feel the most important issues are
for the Police to deal with on the water? Would you like to see more
O.U.I.
enforcement? More vessel stops for no wake zone infractions? More safety
inspections? More after dark patrols of inlets, channels, and harbor
areas?
You tell me. I'm asking for your honest opinions here. As a rule I use
more
common sense than anything on the job. I treat people fairly, and as a
result I rarely ever have to appear in court. I would like to do the same
on
the water. Here's your chance to make a difference, because I will take
every opinion into consideration. Thanks for your help.

Meet my new ski spotter??

http://realdoll.com/

-W

"Clams Canino" wrote in message
news:29LCb.383435

Sometimes you just can't find a spotter without kidnapping someone - a
worse
crime. Don't make me have to get a blow up doll.grin


-W

Clams Canino wrote:
Meet my new ski spotter??

http://realdoll.com/

-W

"Clams Canino" wrote in message
news:29LCb.383435

Sometimes you just can't find a spotter without kidnapping someone - a
worse
crime. Don't make me have to get a blow up doll.grin


-W



Finally...a woman perfect for our right-wingers.

--
Email sent to is never read.

First off, thanks for asking! And welcome to Florida waters!! What kind of
problems really depends on were you are, East coast is VERY different from
West as far as perceived problems. OUI is always a concern for me as a tour
operator as well as inexperienced operators. I don't want to jump on the PWC
bashing bandwagon, but lots of these folks have no idea what safe operation
is, not all of them mind you. I have to tell you, a night patrol on occasion
will do a lot to ease many minds. As far as wake violations, I'm all for
enforcement but some E.O.s from many fields have been over zealous and would
likely written a citation for boats at anchor in a strong spring tide if
given the chance.

Welcome! I'm just glad you are here!Conscientious law enforcement on the
water is a good thing for all concerned even those that may be
inconvenienced.

Capt. Matt

"swatcop" wrote in message
...
Looking for a little bit of direction here. I've been recently assigned to
my department's Marine Unit. I've been a cop for 15 years. I lived in NJ
at
the shore around boats most of my life, but never owned one. I rarely even
went out on boats except for fishing or waterskiing. I moved to Florida in
late 2000, and I'm still working as a cop (just in a nicer place). As a
result of some administrative changes in my department, I was assigned to
the Marine Unit. I've completed the necessary training and such, but one
thing is lacking: experience. I'll try to get to the point - I'm open for
comments and opinions. I know what the law says, and I know what my job
is,
but I try to use more common sense than what the law may actually say in
black & white. What do you (as boaters) feel the most important issues are
for the Police to deal with on the water? Would you like to see more
O.U.I.
enforcement? More vessel stops for no wake zone infractions? More safety
inspections? More after dark patrols of inlets, channels, and harbor
areas?
You tell me. I'm asking for your honest opinions here. As a rule I use
more
common sense than anything on the job. I treat people fairly, and as a
result I rarely ever have to appear in court. I would like to do the same
on
the water. Here's your chance to make a difference, because I will take
every opinion into consideration. Thanks for your help.