FWC - weekend follies and a bit more...UPDATE

[Rik]

0119, I understand where you're coming from but why can't officers be like they used to be? The majority of FWC officers are great guys. Hard working and truly concerned. they should be able to call out the bad ones.

While I hate the black eye FWC is getting from this, it seems to be deserved. I've reached out to folks I know in the dept and, so far, have received no response. I'm disappointed. However, I can not condemn the entire organization

[0119]

Im sure there are more good FWC guys than bad. Ive never had a bad experience with them in the field and while on the job I could see their frustration with their lot in life. But I meant that there aint nobody these days worth a crap. People these days are a selfish video game weaned bunch of slugs that never had a Dad teach them how to be a man. That makes for a lousy stock of people to choose from to make cops. But hey look on the bright side. This generation will one day soon be wiping our butts and stealing or meds as we sit in nursing homes.

[Rik]

0119,

Jaded?

It all started when someone decided it was cruel and punishable with imprisonment to spank your child.

[jbdba01]

OK - A bit more background...this happened on Sat. Frankly I was pretty PO'ed about it and I had drafted up a pretty vicious thread using some not so flattering adjectives and adverbs. I saved it as draft and decided to let it sit overnight. Ahhh...with age comes wisdom (maybe not enough in this case, but some).

I have some nutty hours - so I was up at 5:30 the next day and after a bit of work and cooling off I reread it. I thought it was WAY over the top. So I reworded it as a parody but based on true events. I went and had a cup of coffee - reread it, and thought a) I can delete this and as usual lay low and mind my own business, or b) I can post it and see if others have seen/had such events. This is event number two that I witnessed FWC in violations of laws, but the first one may have been legit so I didn't do/say anything. This event clearly was not an emergency. There was no sense of urgency on the boat.

So...I shrunk the picture a bunch, and then I posted it. More of a parody than anything. Was it flattering no - was it real yes. Provocative - probably. The real question at hand is who polices the police - that's implied where I stated "If I would have done that..."

Reality is the high road would have been to call up FWC and report this incident behind closed curtains and let the system work. The issue with that is the individuals clearly knew who would have reported them. With this on a forum and lots of people aware of it I'm figuring retribution will probably be less. That said I know that in my yellow canoe in the bay I'm not Mr. Popularity. How many of us are there?

The easy thing would have been just to ignore the whole thing and look the other way. Just like I could have deleted the post Sunday or Monday. Granted google cache probably already had it by then.

Like I said, I don't have an axe to grind with FWC. They have limited funds to do a thankless job, but this was clearly a violations of many laws.

Where it goes from here...who knows. More than likely nowhere. That said I know individuals have posted it to a minimum of 4 additional forums - CNTRL-C/ CNTR-V, redirect...easy enough to drive traffic to the thread. I myself posted it on one more.

So is this a cowardly act of hiding behind the anonymity of the internet while disparaging FWC, or is it some weird sense of community service and righting a wrong. I don't know, it just seemed to make sense and right at the time. Still does. Will I say that in 6/12 months...who knows.

[1okbyme2]

what's the big deal, they were obviously responding to a call.

[Urban Legend II]

jbdba01,

If no one else does, I applaud your ability to enlighten the rest of us in such a way that I almost felt like I was there. Don’t want to get too deep (this is after all a fishing forum) but it is easy to sit back and do or say nothing, so if nothing else is accomplished, you have initiated some passionate discussion on the topic.

Side note: I remember a few years back I read an article about some Wildlife Commissions establishing sleeper cells on forums to catch people who posted pictures of illegal fishing activities, for example, lifting a Goliath Grouper or Tarpon out of the water.

My point? If “they” can devote the time and energy to train their officers to stalk folks like us, it is amazing to me that they can’t train these two how to observe the rules they are supposed to enforce….so to me it’s comical that these numb skulls would have such a blatant disregard for the “rules” unless it was a matter of life or death…like seeing cops blaze though a traffic light because the Krispy Kreme sign is lit!

If they sat there 2 hours, I seriously doubt it was an emergency, but I guess we will never know…..but does anyone else ever wonder why the number of actual posts is so different from the number of looks?????? Hmmmmm……..

[0119]

Rik, Im more than jaded, Im a full blown people hater!

You guys think state employees are bad now, wait till the new governor gets finished with lay offs and rape'ing the cops retirement plans! They havent seen over worked yet. 20 D.E.P. cops already laid off. The entire state drug enforcement agency disbanded and fired. Wild west here we come!

[Sakana]

Sounds like you needed to follow ole Gomer Pyle's precedent: "Citizen's arreyest, citizen's arreyest..."

[MrSpectaculous]

Reminded me of that Sterling boat ad that ran in Florida Sportsman a while back. There were also commercials.

[krash]

Perhaps, just perhaps, these guys were not local FWC and did not know the area. They could have been called in to work some event, were heading somewhere and just made a mistake. We've all done it, the difference is if I were seen making the same mistake by a local hard working FWC officer I likely would have been issued a citation.

From that pic 4 guys in the boat is a lot of FWC resources to be in 1 place at 1 time. I'd bet at least 3 were not locals, probably all 4, on a boat loaned/checked out by another agency, perhaps on a sting or bust of some sort.

Happens here every year at lobster mini-season and Columbus day celebrations. Any LEO withing 100's of miles can get some overtime by voluntering. I've seen and been stopped by all sorts of LEO during the lobster season for a complimentary safety, license, and violation check, many of the officers had a 1 hour seminar explaining the rules but have no clue.
I've seen then run the flats, hit hard aground.. and make many other mistakes. The difference again is if I did the same thing I'd be issued a citation.

[Rik]

Perhaps, just perhaps, these guys were not local FWC and did not know the area. They could have been called in to work some event, were heading somewhere and just made a mistake. We've all done it.........

Yep. I've done it. I'm still waiting for a response from the FWC folks I reached out to.

I still have to wonder why they were flying in a restricted and obviously shallow location. I'm holding faith there was an acceptable answer.

[jbdba01]

Looks like this thread has hit a nerve or people found it humorous - humor was the intention. First let me just stick to the facts.

• [snip]
  The did have guns on their hips and they were shooting video. Their hats were on backwards. Frankly they looked the part - FWC and probably plain clothes law enforcement at work.

I've no intention on escalating the matter. If the FWC wants to investigate further they can reference the video the officer in the front has, or I can provide them the original photo and they can reference this thread.

[snip]

I looked closely at the picture and in fact the fella up front has PD on his hat - as in police dept. The boat is clearly FWC.

For reference the incident occurred here. They came from the North (right)

[Rik]

I spoke with an officer from the FWC a few minutes ago. There is a supervisory inquiry underway on this incident. While it is being looked in to, he could not tell me any specifics other than there was a valid reason for them to be there. He couldn't say anything more at this point.

He said that once the investigation is complete, he will get back to me with the results and more complete information.

[jbdba01]

Good enough - feel free to have them give me a call. That said the video camera the officer is holding in the front will tell the whole story better than I could describe it.

[DaveR]

J.B. Is a shit stirrer! You better damn well be in compliance!

[Heywood]

Why is it no one here ever listens to me?

Stake Out - Undercover - Out of Towners - Not familiar with the area - Get the hint???