Environmental Police

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johlar

Contributor
Messages
147
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0
Location
No. Attleboro, Mass
# of dives
100 - 199
Did the first dive of the season in Plymouth this morning. We were about 400 yds outside of Flag rock. Water temp at the surface was 57 but 42 chilly degrees at 35 feet. Grabbed at least a dozen shorts but no keepers.

When we got back to Plymouth harbor we loaded the boat on the trailer and I pulled it out then stopped in the lot to put the tie downs on and to hook up the lights. While I'm hooking things up a young guy wearing a Harbormaster asked me how we did, I told him no keepers, finished hooking up and walked back to the car. I had not noticed a Envitonmental Police car had pulled up and was actually blocking the boat from moving.

I said to the officer "I'm concerned I'll hit your car if you leave it like that. He said I'll move it. When I got in the car my son in law says did you see the 2 Environmental guys searching the boat? One guy walked up and just looked at your boat but the other one was actually reaching in and patting down the equipment bags.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Are the police allowed to search your boat without identifying themselves or asking permission? I never had a problem with these people nor do I want one but I feel this type of behavior is wrong.

Any lawyers on the board or better yet any policeman who can answer the question.
 
I dive out of the Plymouth boat ramp almost every Sunday morning. If the police in the harbor don't board you while you're waiting your turn to come out, the EP are on you, sometimes both. As soon as they see wetsuits or tanks they're all over you.

The police got to know us by mid-summer, so after two encounters (with no shorts found) they just shoot the ***** with us.

The EP's, on the other hand, are hounds. We've actually had them running after our boat as we pulled out of the ramp area. We made one guy climb up the boat ladder at the back, as at the time, the trailer fenders were shaky, and the bugs were in the live well. He wasn't in the best of shape, and he was visibly PO'd by the time he got on board, but again, WE HAVE NO SHORTS!

They could conduct themselves with a better attitude, but they live for catching someone with a short, some berries, or a fading v-notch.

If we got as much attention from ANYONE when we complain about being buzzed by angry lobster boats, we might break even in the experience.

That's just the way it is. As long as you are legal (which you should be anyway), you don't have to take any crap from them.
 
I don't have a problem cooperating with any type of law enforcement but I'm kind of a stickler for my rights as a citizen. Do the EP have special rights to just walk up and conduct a search? No explanation, no introduction or identification.
 
johlar:
I don't have a problem cooperating with any type of law enforcement but I'm kind of a stickler for my rights as a citizen. Do the EP have special rights to just walk up and conduct a search? No explanation, no introduction or identification.

That's pretty much how they operate. They almost assume you're guilty until you prove you're not. That's why I don't offer them my most cheerful, cooperative side, especially when I know I've done nothing wrong.

Now if they were to act like human beings, I might be nicer in return. It's one of my (many) character flaws. :eyebrow:
 
Wow.. Not my first run in. I got nailed by the EP for being too far away from my dive flag. Well, technically, the flag was ashore.. The EP was holding it as was surfacing. Was one of those we're all in water and opps! forgot the flag. Who wants to get it? Ahh, we're ok. We won't get nailed. If we do, we'll split the cost of ticket. Funny, only one diver in group pitched in for ticket. We were wrong but still, the way they acted.. I guess if I were them, I would probably be the same..
 
I had a simmilar experence with DEM down here in RI
we all got outa the water and where takin off gear. and talkin to eachother, and a DEM guy comes walkin around the corner as im talkin to a friend and starts goin thru my stuff in my jeep.. i see him and walk over and ask in a not so pleasant tone if theres something he wants, or is he lost... and THEN saw he was a DEM guy but he never identified himself..
in he dark. just came up on us and started goin thru my stuff. i was about ready to pop him till i saw he was a freakin DEM cop.
O.. and i had no lobsters at all, i was just doin a night dive.
in my opinion.. very unprofessional.
 
Diesel298:
I had a simmilar experence with DEM down here in RI
we all got outa the water and where takin off gear. and talkin to eachother, and a DEM guy comes walkin around the corner as im talkin to a friend and starts goin thru my stuff in my jeep.. i see him and walk over and ask in a not so pleasant tone if theres something he wants, or is he lost... and THEN saw he was a DEM guy but he never identified himself..
in he dark. just came up on us and started goin thru my stuff. i was about ready to pop him till i saw he was a freakin DEM cop.
O.. and i had no lobsters at all, i was just doin a night dive.
in my opinion.. very unprofessional.

Did you think of talking to his superviser, all officers should identify themselves
and ask permission for any search. Enough complaints to supervisers will remind the troops of the rules.

Randy
 
I bet if you started video taping an encounter without him noticing , he'd think twice before searching without identifying himself...get your buddy to start recording and then just say, "Hey, who the F_ck are you?" make sure he sees the camera
 
I think it would be interesting to see exactly what section in the state law they derive their power of arrest from. It would be good to know because the behavior described is intollerable for a law enforcement officer and could quite possibly be bordering on being illegal. Do they have the power to search? Yes, of course they do. However, is that power unrestricted? It's not for regular police officers so why would EP have special powers that circumvent the right to protection from unreasonable search and seizure? Do they have the power to do so without properly identifying themselves first? Again, regular police don't so what makes the EP special?

I ran into the EP yesterday afternoon at Back Beach. They pulled up, politely asked a few questions, and were on their way. They didn't even get out of their SUV. Granted that we were just getting geared up but my buddy is standing there with the catch bag in his hand and the float with his license number on it laying on the ground beside him. I think it was pretty obvious what we were planning. Even though we were there for a fair amount of time after the dive they didn't come back to check if we had caught anything.

It sounds like some of you guys ran into people suffering from Cartman syndrome, give them a badge and a tiny amount of authority over others and presto, one ego the size of the Queen Mary looking for a place to happen.

You WILL respect my authoritah!!!
 
all4scuba05:
I bet if you started video taping an encounter without him noticing , he'd think twice before searching without identifying himself...get your buddy to start recording and then just say, "Hey, who the F_ck are you?" make sure he sees the camera

Excellent idea.

Does anyone know if their highly questionable search practices even catch anyone holding shorts?
 
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