Chuck, you're basing all your writing on that article, which was
obviously written with a spin to make him a hero. The outrage is
caused by his abusive behavior to boaters, his writing tickets to
boats for no good reason, and his general harassment of boaters
passing through the area, as well as FL residents. Here are a few
comments from others:
____________
OK I read the article and I don't understand something. If your from
out of
state and your legally registered or documented in accordance with
the laws
of your state then your permitted to travel in the state of FL for up
to 90
days. If that is the law then why does this guy issue a warning ticket
to out of
state boats when there is no evidence or proof you have violated
that law?

I live in FL I document and register and pay sales tax on my boats
as
required by state law. Yet I have been boarded three times by this guy
to check
paper work no violations were ever found. This guy has never checked
fire
extinguishers or life jackets or anything else he is focused
completely on
registrations.

There are thousands of laws that we all have to abide by I understand
that.
Any police officer at any time can pull you over in your car and check
for
license registration insurance etc that's legal. But if an officer in
one
particular town was doing that over and over again with no outward
signs of any
violation He is no longer serving the public good but instead
satisfying his own
obsession or fetish.
__________________________________________________ __
You folks should remember you don't have to be from out of state to
be
treated like a criminal in Venice. I'm a FL resident proudly
displaying my up to
date decal and officer Fetish has boarded me three times. Any boat
from anywhere
is fair game to the obsessed in uniform.
_______________________________________________
Lousiana does not have boat registration. So what happens if you're
from LA and pass through Venice? You get a ticket. TX has
registration. So if you're from TX, registered there and have a
Federal documentation, what happens if you pass through Venice? You
get a ticket. Seeing the pattern? Even if you don't get a ticket, you
get stopped and harassed. None too nicely or professionally either.

Now how can FL tell you that your boat must be registered in some
state? Do they write the laws for the other 49 states? I think not,
and there is no Federal law requiring state registrations. Again (link
provided earlier) you can be from another state and cruise in FL for
90 days straight or 181 total within a year and not have to register
in FL. He doesn't care... you can be there 5 days and you get the
ticket anyway. Just revenue generation.