Water Police Options

[Majed]

Last week while i was fishing the Georges with my dad & uncle a water police patrol travelling pretty quick through a "no wash zone" on the eastern side of como bridge approached me and asked me how the fishing was...it was slow at the time...

The police asked me for my fishing license which i supplied to them...they asked for my dads and uncles who are expempt as they are pensioners...

They also wanted to see if i had enough life jackets...which i always have...they asked me who owns the boat and is it registered...They also asked me which boat ramp i used...i asked them what was the question related too....they just wanted to know...so i told them...the officer was writing information in his pad..

I dont have any issue with supplying information, but i thought it was a waste of time hassling someone fishing with a 76 & 70 year old when they should be out catching the criminals and morons that use our waterways, not innocent fishemen...

They didnt even ask me for my boat license which i thought would be more important since they asked me to show them the life jackets and what boat ramp i used.....

Also, how come it is ok for them to be travelling at least 30 knots in a no wash zone??

[jasonb]

mate the thing is how do ya tell a crim from a good person ,,

[Spudly]

I tend not to question the police to much myself...

One day they just checking that youve got your saftey equipment etc...

The next they are being shot at......

It sounds like they didnt give you any hassles and were just doing a check, which I think they have to perform a certain number of a shift..

They got a tough job and I think if ya can just make it easier for them then let them be...

This prolly sounds weird coming from a Law Abiding citizen such as myself... But, Ive always found, do the right thing and show them some respectand they will give it back.

[Christos]

This prolly sounds weird coming from a Law Abiding citizen such as myself

Never doubted you for a moment.

[jasonb]

rummy law abiding ,,ahaaaahaahahahahahahaahaahahahahaahhaaaahhahahahaaaaahahahaaahaahahaahahaaaaah
ahahahahahahaahahaaaaaaaahahahaahahahahahahahaahahhaahaaahahahaahahahahahahaahha

[Christos]

Your a very likable fellow Majed.

[MartinF]

funny Rum.. I have the exact opposite view of police from experience.

If you need them for something they're nowhere to be seen. Like when your house gets broken into and they can't send anyone because they're so overworked or understaffed. But if you happen to be perpetrating the heinous crime of driving 10km/hr over the speed limit they always seem to be able to find the time to send someone out and give you a ticket.

I generally think respect is earned and cops, at least over here, have shown me very little reason over the past 20-odd years to respect them much.

Sure, it's a tough job, but so is being a surgeon and everyone expects them to do their job right. There are plenty of good cops but I doubt very much whether they make up more than 30% of the police force.

[jack]

Also, how come it is ok for them to be travelling at least 30 knots in a no wash zone??

My brother in law got stopped not to long ago oing to fast through a 4-8 knot zone and he got to talk to the guys about the no wash zone. Apparantly there is no speed limit in these zones, it is just that a no wash zone. His boat (inboard ski boat) creates less waves going fast than it does slow and for him the best speed through a no wash zone would be fast. This came from the water police/maritime officers themselves.

Jack

[Spudly]

My brother in law got stopped not to long ago oing to fast through a 4-8 knot zone and he got to talk to the guys about the no wash zone. Apparantly there is no speed limit in these zones, it is just that a no wash zone. His boat (inboard ski boat) creates less waves going fast than it does slow and for him the best speed through a no wash zone would be fast. This came from the water police/maritime officers themselves.

Jack

No wash zone means you must be going slow enough to not create a wash or have the boat fully on the plane.. Once on the plane you can go as quick as ya want..

[Spudly]

funny Rum.. I have the exact opposite view of police from experience.

If you need them for something they're nowhere to be seen. Like when your house gets broken into and they can't send anyone because they're so overworked or understaffed. But if you happen to be perpetrating the heinous crime of driving 10km/hr over the speed limit they always seem to be able to find the time to send someone out and give you a ticket.

I generally think respect is earned and cops, at least over here, have shown me very little reason over the past 20-odd years to respect them much.

Sure, it's a tough job, but so is being a surgeon and everyone expects them to do their job right. There are plenty of good cops but I doubt very much whether they make up more than 30% of the police force.

Mate, I have had plenty of run ins with them... And Ive often Hated them, but at the end of the day.. Even doing your 10km over the speed limit, ya are breaking the law and its their job to bust ya...

They are never going to please everyone...

[MartinF]

Even doing your 10km over the speed limit, ya are breaking the law and its their job to bust ya...

yup.. guess that's my more basic problem right there.

Don't much like laws and authority in general

But that's more of a political problem than a police problem. And you're right, they're never going to please everyone but they could at least try helping people instead of making their lives more difficult. Guess it could always be worse though.. *cough* America *cough* ;)

[kkw]

No wash zone means you must be going slow enough to not create a wash or have the boat fully on the plane.. Once on the plane you can go as quick as ya want..

True. However, these signs are very often placed at locations where there is also a speed limit eg 4 knots. Be careful

[kkw]

Also, how come it is ok for them to be travelling at least 30 knots in a no wash zone??

They (and you) can go as fast as you like in a no wash zone, subject to any other signs or circumstances which would prevent you from doing so.

I am itching to reply to some other posts regarding Police and the perceptions outlined, but I have cuffed my fingers and taped my mouth shut.

[Spudly]

Let it go KKW....

I wanna hear ya stories!!!


A good example of the no wash zone was Yowie Bay for years.. but i beleive the hole bay is an 8kt zone these days?

[poly]

yep i agree, kk let it out mate, in spent a lot of years in the security game and have seen fist hand what the police have to put up with, so if i get pulled up i let them do there job and move on.

[kkw]

funny Rum.. I have the exact opposite view of police from experience.
There are plenty of good cops but I doubt very much whether they make up more than 30% of the police force.

Hmmm interesting. Wonder why the Police seem to single you out for attention, Jack? 30%!!! You must be talking about the Netherlands Police, right??? Having inside knowledge, I would say that the bad cops in NSW make up a less than 1% of the Force here.

Police don't get called out to the Jones' for a cup of coffee and cake or get invited to social functions or bbq's or any other 'good time' activities in their day to day work. They get called out to the Jones' because the drug addicted son has just stolen the stereo and hocked it and dad is beating the crap out of him. Or Mrs Jones has just run over a kid on the way home from the pub, and is drunk, but still able to crawl into the car and drive it, or the Jones' daughter is being harassed by 15 drunken louts and they refuse to leave her 16th birthday party, or the Jones' youngest has just gone face first into a full speed prop as the driver of the boat has gunned it, or the Jones' uncle has just been found, rotted and bloated on the floor of his house, after no visits from the family for 2 months, or the Jones' cousin has just drowned after trying to scuba dive without having had lessons, or the Jones' youngest son has just had his head and arms torn off whilst drag racing around the local streets, or the Jones; house has been broken into, along with 10 others in the area and only 2 Police to attend to them, or the Jones' next door neighbours kid has been bowled over by a car as she was crossing the road in front of an illegally parked car in the school's 'No Standing' zone and someone who was only going 10kph over the limit hit her, or ..... Heaven forbid, local fishos have been complaining about other fishos catching undersize fish and the Police have pulled up to check on the Jones clans fishing licence and safety gear

I have those views from experience and many, many more. Police get to spend 99.9% of their working time dealing with bad things and the dregs of society. They are never there when you need them, always there when you do something wrong and get caught, a bunch of b****ds when they book you for 'no reason', lifesavers when they come to your aid, etc etc etc. Where are those finger cuffs???

[MartinF]

ehr mate.. jack = jack.. I'm martin.. just for the record. There's more than one person from the Netherlands

Maybe 30% is a stretch but I definitely think 50% is pretty accurate and it would greatly surprise me if it were any different there. If you are a cop, no offense mate, but you're not particularly objective, are you. Of course there are plenty of good cops, I even know a couple. And yes, it can be a shitty job. But most of the cops I run into on the street picked that job for a reason, and it's not because they wanted to help and protect people. It's because they like the authority that comes with that job, they like what it makes them. Nothing particularly bad about that I guess, but you put that mentality together with the fact that they actually have power and it's not always good.

There's a lot of factors that contribute to the bad performance of a policeman, not in the least the pressure from public opinion, politics and legislators, but there are plenty of them out there that don't need any help to be useless. That's no different for cops than for any other profession, most people nowadays are bloody useless at what they do. Most managers are crap, most mechanics are crap, no different for cops. It's just that when certain people are crap, it effects me more than when other people are crap.

Now in this case I don't see much wrong with the check itself (of the licenses and everything), but as far as the speed goes, I've yet to meet a cop who sticks to the speed limit, both on and off duty (and I've met a couple) and yeah, that pisses me off. Practice what you preach.

Either way it's a pointless discussion. I could happily live my life without seeing another cop and I don't have a great deal of affection for them. Doesn't mean I don't respect them for the work that they do, it's just that generally I don't like them much (as a type of person that picks that profession as well as their usual demeanor) and think that quite apart from that, a really large part of them are pretty useless.

Having said that, they're still miles above people like the fake-cop parking attendant types who should all be shipped to Iraq or shot on sight.. imo of course

---

oh also, just reread your post. I don't think they single me out at all. In fact I have very little direct dealings with them since I don't do much illegal stuff. It's more them not contributing much either

This post has been edited by MartinF: Mar 19 2008, 02:33 PM

[Spudly]

Yep, I agree KKW... Well said...

Like I said Previosly, They have a Job (tough job) to do and if your doing the right thing then you shouldnt have a problem...

Do your bit to make their day easier by giving them what they want and they will be sure to remember. Next time they see you on the water they will prob just wave as they pass. Be a p____K about it and you might find yourself pulled up everytime!

[kkw]

ehr mate.. jack = jack.. I'm martin.. just for the record. There's more than one person from the Netherlands

Yes you are ............... it was meant for you Martin, not Jack. Sorry Jack.

[MartinF]

no worries.

also was just thinking.. I guess a town gets the cops it needs/deserves a lot of the time. I live in a smallish town (125k people) and nothing much happens here so you get a different kind of cop than say in Amsterdam. It's like with soldiers in a way. You need them, but you really only want them around when there's an actual war, otherwise they're just a nuisance

Either way, I dislike quite a lot of people so don't read too much into it, hahaha