I am the first to pat an officer on the back for doing an outstanding job, at the same time I am not quiet about when I believe an officer is taking things too far.  This happened to a friend of mine on the water a couple days ago, specifically around the area between Punta Rassa and The mouth of the Caloosahatchee river.  After fishing for a few hours he was approached by a LCSO Deputy in a boat.  Pretty much gave him the full boat inspection routine, as well as looked in his cigarette packs he had sitting on his console, and went though every compartment, cooler and tacklebox my friend had.  After doing all that, checking all required safety equipment was in place, the officer decided to write my friend a ticket for having the vessel number stickers TOO CLOSE TOGETHER?????????  I mean, he was writing a ticket for that!!!  Here is what saved my friend from getting a $45 ticket that day for the spacing of his vessel number not exact.  In the middle of writing a ticket a FWC officer pulled up in his boat and started talking to the LCSO deputy.  He asked him what he was writing a ticket for and the officer told him.  Even the FWC officer could not believe what he was hearing, and actually stood up for my buddy.  FWC asked LCSO if he did a routine safety inspection and the reply was yes, he even has a fire extinguisher when it isn't required.  With that the FWC Officer suggested to not write a ticket to this guy for the letter spacing, took the registeration from the LCSO, looked at it, and made a comment something like "I do not see any special spacing on the registration to indicate it needs to be exactly 1" apart on the vessel" .  What the LCSO said next to the FWC is bugging me.  LCSO indicated that the marine division needs to step up their ticket writing because they are spending over $1,000 in fuel for the boats with little to show what they are doing during the time on the water.  The FWC officer asked him if they do not give out warnings, and then suggested he rip up the ticket and write him a warning if they have to show that they are patrolling.  A warning will show they are interacting with the public.  

 

But to drum up something like the stickers are TOO close together???  If it is readable then it is fine.  A tape measure was used by the LCSO on the boat and it was determined the lettering was only 3/4" apart, instead of the stated 1", and that was going to cost a citizen $45 :-(

Snooker was the tape certified as exact. The Measure Meters we had in out patrol units and scooters, had to certified once a year or after repair. This was in NJ, dont know if that runs true here. If anything I would call Mike Scott abd ask a few questions.

I am not sure mike, I would assume so if it was being used for "official measurements" but not sure. I was actually thinking about stopping by LCSO on Six Mile and talking to someone in person about this.

I do understand if it is a law to have the stickers exactly 1" apart then the officer was just enforcing the law, it is the way he was going about doing it. He did rip up the ticket and write a warning, only after the FWC officer suggested it several times. And over an hour of my friends one day of fishing was wasted on this safety inspection that resulted in a warning he got for the stickers, which is not safety equipment anyway...

Just imagine the one day a month you actually look forward to (Getting out on the water) and getting harassed (I consider it harassing the public when they stop you on the water just to perform a safety check. I mean, do they pull you over on the highway to check your tire pressures to make sure they are within safety margins? I feel they need to either check when boats are being launched or loaded at ramps, and at key points, like idle zones and bridge areas where it is idle zone too. To pull up on someone out fishing is just plain out disrespectful, I do not care if you are a fellow fisherman or law enforcement. And over the last year I have started to hear more and more complaints from people about being harassed out on the water while enjoying the day with family, friends or by themselves fishing. And then to go one step further and start searching the vessel for a non-disclosed item or items (They do not tell you what they look for, they just look) once the safety inspection is complete, I assume that is legal because they almost always do it after they check all safety equipment.. That is the way it usually goes down. Stop for a safety check and get tickets for something totally unrelated to safety, like too many fish, one fish too short, no de-venter on the boat etc.... not related to safety at all.

Is Florida Free State or a Police State? Sometimes out on the water, one has to wonder........

I will more then likely stop by LCSO in the next couple days to see if I can discuss this with someone because it is really bugging me about the over $1,000 fuel and nothing to show comment the Deputy made during conversation with the FWC officer. I see it as the public is behaving itself and the Deputies are seeing that, but are being forced to write tickets from within the LCSO command structure (Is that right?)