Water Police At Manly Ramp

[tenzing]

Returned from mud is. last night about midnight to be greeted at the ramp by a lone policman.
The young (and very large) man identified himself as water police to one of my guests and made some enquiries about our evening's travels and began taking notes in his book before I had got the boat on the trailer.
Once I had driven on ,he politely asked details of name address ,home and mobile numbers, motor size and vessel ownership.
I did ask what was the nature of his enquiry and he said that all the details were useful in the event of an emergency.
He then checked the usual jackets and flares and was on his way.

Now my question is just how efficient is it to get all of this detail about one boat / driver at midnight. I was virtually the only car at the ramp(dont know why , it was a beautiful Fri night and we had an esky full of squire from Mud)and he had driven there purposely (he was not already waiting at the ramp)
I have provided all of those details in my boat registration, and to the coast guard in application for membership, to the Amsa when I registered my epirb, and last week to AMSA again when I received the MMSI for my DSC for the VHF.
I am very happy to oblige , and I hope never to require the fine service that the water police provide, But surely these agencies could share a database.You can bet if the tax office was involved they would know more than I did about me.
Not miffed, just interested.
Brendan

[Blackened]

G'day

Sounds silly, but was he in uniform or offer a badge?

Just sounds like a really odd time to be out there?

Dave

[tenzing]

Dave , he was in uniform and driving a marked police landcruiser.
I would not have been forthcoming unless he was the real deal. Again he was extremely friendly, but it was late and deserted. Just seemed a little odd.
Brendan

[mik01]

bored....
or just needing to justify that he was actually doing something while at work?

long weekend, they may have expected many more out on the water and put a copper on a late shift to do some checks...

[Blackened]

G'day

Fair enough, as long as he was the real mccoy.

I bet it was the northern ramp alongside the coast guard?

Dave

[tenzing]

G'day

Fair enough, as long as he was the real mccoy.

I bet it was the northern ramp alongside the coast guard?

Dave

No mate. southern ramp. But it took him a few minutes to get there after our boat arrived. we were in no hurry, logged off etc ,so he may have driven over after seeing us from the coastguard ramp.
Brendan

[FNQCairns]

You havn't been knocking of his wife/girlfriend/boyfriend have you??!!!!:)

Strange one, reminiscent of showing your papers (or tattoo:-X) in some dictatorial 3rd world country.

cheers fnq

[Local_Guy]

they might have had a report of a similar vessel to yours doing illegal activities or possibily a stolen boat matching your boats description.

or maybe he had some time to kill before donut king had their midnight donut specials and wasn't in a hurry to get there.

[mik01]

hey I guess we whinge about lack of security at ramps, but then aren't appreciative when we are asked a few questions late at night at the ramp.

at least he was there - would've deterred any trouble makers if they were around.

[tenzing]

hey I guess we whinge about lack of security at ramps, but then aren't appreciative when we are asked a few questions late at night at the ramp.

at least he was there - would've deterred any trouble makers if they were around.

Mate he looked like he could have bench pressed my boat, I think he could well have eaten any trouble makers!
Brendan

[mik01]

Mate he looked like he could have bench pressed my boat, I think he could well have eaten any trouble makers!
Brendan

hehe - the perfect crime fighting machine...

a crim-eating copper!;D

[oldboot]

sounds like pretty typical regestration check.

before they got all keen with redlight, & speed cameras this was the main stay of the trafic coppers life.

at one time they were not permitted to pull you over to breath test you without reasonable cause..... so they would pull you over for a rego and licence check.......then they could put the bag on you if they had a suspicion.

from what I hear they are doing licence and rego checks on boaties.

afterall there are a lot of boats & owners that dont measure up.

If you went over every boat, trailer and driver on most boat ramps on a weekend I recon you would need to take extra ticket books.

He was problay sitting somehwere convienient out of sight, where he could see both ramps.

Afterall if you were a "dodgy boatie" & you saw a copper at the ramp you would stand off and come back later wouldnt you.

think about it.
if they want to zip you for an offence they have to observe you in charge of the vehicle.

afterall it isn't an offence to own a boat without the proper safety gear, but it is an ofence to be in charge of one.

likewise with a dodgy trailer......while it's parked in the car park, they cant do a thing......so they wait till you are at the wheel before they aproach you to inspect the vehicle.

good to see em turning up at unexpected times.

this tread is positive proof of effective deterent policing.

we all know that coppers do turn up at boat ramps in the middle of the night.

cheers

[jimbo59]

He wasnt that poofy cop from wild hogs was he :-* :-* :-* .

[fishing111]

Agree with FNQ,

Strange one, reminiscent of showing your papers (or tattoo:-X) in some dictatorial 3rd world country.

[PinHead]

some amazing comments about showing papers in other countries...now if the trailer was missing, people would whinge the coppers are never around. When they are around some people still whinge. Sure would not like to do their job.

[charleville]

I experienced the police doing the same thing at 2.30 am at the same place a few years ago.

Two cops drove to the edge of the ramp in a 4WD when I had just dropped my boat in the water and was about to hop aboard and go out fishing. They then came down the ramp and did the usual inspections and asked me about where I was going etc.

I am delighted to see them at that ramp any time of the night. I have never experienced any safety or security problems at that ramp but it is a bit isolated in the middle of the night.

[Camo]

You may find that because of the long weekend the water police are doing an operation. There may well have been water police stationed at every ramp from Redland Bay to Wynnum. That would be my guess anyway. Why else would you have one copper by himself if they weren't scattered around other ramps.


Camo

[bam424]

I am sure that we are all pleased that police can turn up anywere at any time maybe it should be made very public it might just stop some damage and stealing we read about on this site only too often. I hope they get to the goldie and stir up some boaties that run without lights and the young ones that buzz around annoying a lot of fisherman. I have been half spooled twice in the last few weeks and I hope my line is well and truly rapped around those props and in the seals.Bruce.>:(

[Greg P]

Good on him for getting down there. I would be happy to deliver a few fillets in a brown paper bag for regular police patrols at Spinnaker 8-)8-)8-)8-)

[garman1]

I think I would rather be greeted by a benchpressing policeman, who wanted your name and details etc, than a bunch of %%$#@@#who had trashed your car and boat trailer and were just waiting for you...............

The only thing noone asked was did he offer to lift the boat onto your trailer for you....................?

cheers Garry

[Blackened]

G'day

Interesting it was at the southern ramp, the one sandwiched between RQYS and East Coast.

I think it's a good thing he's out there, just odd because he's on his own at that hour, on a quiet night. Never seen that before.

There is no way you can see both ramps from the same spot, you can see boats coming into the harbor from the northern ramp, but there's no garuntee they're going to use the public facilities.

Keep in mind, although not the same, the port authority reguarly do security patrols down this neck of the woods to keep everything in check.

Dave

[Poodroo]

I kind of wish there was more of a police presence at the ramps 24 hours a day. It sure would minimize the risk of trailer theft while we are out on the water. I live in fear of returning to the ramp and finding some thieving mongrel has taken my trailer. Not long ago some delinquent made good with my car GPS by smashing the front passenger window. Sure take the GPS but having to replace a wind up window was more aggrevation than I needed at the time.

Poodroo

[Kleyny]

He wasnt that poofy cop from wild hogs was he :-* :-* :-* .
LOL thats the funniest post I've seen here for a while. Congrates on that one;D

I would dare say if he goes back and does his checks and there is something a miss ( not that I'm saying there is) you will be getting a little surprise in the mail.

As someone else has said police talk to one person and he talks to his mates and his mates talk to his mates.
If you got stopped in the middle of the day it wouldnt be such a hot topic. But because its out of the ordinary the above cenario unfolds.

IMO Very simple way to achieve compliance in the ranks:-* .

neil

[fishing111]

some amazing comments about showing papers in other countries...now if the trailer was missing, people would whinge the coppers are never around. When they are around some people still whinge. Sure would not like to do their job.



I guess that dig is directed at me. I have absolutely no qualm about coppers doing regular patrols, as long as it's not a revenue patrol. I recently got told that at Mooloolaba there were coppers fining people for not wearing there seatbelts when retrieving/loading there boats at the coastguard ramp, (hearsay so I don't know definitively) which I reckon is total bullshit if true. How exactly is this boater safer for giving the copper his details after he has come home? What exactly is this copper going to do with his details, my guess at the end of the shift toss them in the bin.
It would be a different story if the details were transferred to a national data base, so that if you got pulled up again they would not hold you up.

[tenzing]

I guess that dig is directed at me. I have absolutely no qualm about coppers doing regular patrols, as long as it's not a revenue patrol. I recently got told that at Mooloolaba there were coppers fining people for not wearing there seatbelts when retrieving/loading there boats at the coastguard ramp, (hearsay so I don't know definitively) which I reckon is total bullshit if true. How exactly is this boater safer for giving the copper his details after he has come home? What exactly is this copper going to do with his details, my guess at the end of the shift toss them in the bin.
It would be a different story if the details were transferred to a national data base, so that if you got pulled up again they would not hold you up.

Mate you have picked up my point exactly. PINHEAD,I am certainly NOT having a "whinge" about being spoken to by the constabulary, quite the opposite in fact. I am questioning the efficiency of building an effective database in this manner.
By the way I was not asked to provide any sort of proof of identity, registration or address. It was all in a "for your own benefit" sort of session.
Brendan

[Blaster Bretty]

Believe it or not I feel very comfortable being approached by the copper's at night for the usual " oh just a rego and safety check sir" I rekon good on him and yes a lot of blokes are right in that some cop's do go and check peep's out because they are bored, this particular copper was probably stationed at that post for the very reason to just do rego and safety check's, and yes it has got us talking aye bloke's which also is a very good deterent in itself to any wouldbe hoon's/ dipstick's that like to hang out at point and coast ramps in the middle of the night.
I can remember way back when I myself was a hoon (heaven forbid) and if there was ever any place's where copper's may be hangin well that would be the last place we would want to be, good on them for doing there job once again!

Bretty

[cbruh1]

Interesting thread this has become,

In regards to the "Data Base" some people have talked about, I am under the impression that the police already have access to the details for all registered boats in QLD (not sure about all of AUS) in a data base that they can simpy look up on there computers. All the details that are in this data base are details that you provided to QLD transport when you registered your boat and trailer and car.

By this copper asking what your name/ address/ phone numbers/ motor size etc. He can simply cross reference and check that your storey holds true and he can then take action if your answers are not true. Pretty standard questions he asked, I've been asked what my name is, the copper already new my last name and address by looking on his laptop at my boat rego number, I was on the water when he did his check.

With the copper asking where you have been fishing, he would be asking this for safetey gear reasons, to make sure you had all of the required gear to go where you said you went. Like if you where out offshore you need more safetey gear then you do to go around coochie.

I think the copper was just doing his job, asking pretty standard questions and doing pretty standard checks, and the time is a pretty standard time as police are on patrol 24/7.

[Nico.d.R]

they can afford to pay them over time now with the rego going up hopefully they will be there more often now lol. i like seeing police at the car park at deep water bend when i come back from a late night fish it means there doing there job and also it means that my car and trailor are a bit safer .

cheers nico

[banksmister]

I also was at mud on friday night and returned at 3am as it got very uncomfortable .On returning to manly only 3 other trailers in carpark and no police .
Must not have been worth waiting for the rest to come in.
But at about 8pm while out there some rednecks in a tinnie with no lights started yelling abuse in the direction of the rest of the boats.
There problem was a beer can floated past them and in there drunken eyes it was from one of the other boats there.
Maybe someone informed the police , i myself could not be botherd as they will not be round long if they continue to fish near the new moon in the dark.

[Bros]

But surely these agencies could share a database.
Brendan

I raised the question of sharing database between Qld transport and AMSA with a represenative of MSQ last week with respect to having 406 EPIRB registration changed with boat change of ownership . He said it is because one is State one Federal that there is no connection.

The VMR's and Coast Guard maintain their own databases and there is no connection with AMSA or Qld Transport.

One thing of note is if the VMR's or Coast Guards have a vessel that has logged on and hasn't logged off they are obliged first to make every effort to find the owner and if unsuccessful to report it to the police so thay can take further action

[Fish Guts]

great to see some pro-active policing by the water police.

[Lancair]

Could be smuggling they're looking for. Ive seen some sus activities at a ramp late at night in the brisbane area when I was LB for fishing yrs ago. I always wondered how easy it would be for somone on a ship comming into brisbane from ? to throw overboard a package attached to a small float and have someone else cruise by in a boat a sccop it up.

A few months ago I was out with a mate in my tinny, just having a cruise at sunset, enjoying a beer. On returning to the ramp I got a phone call from the sydney water police. At first I thought, someones seen me drinking a beer an rang the cops, this guys calling me to tell me to wait for a local unit to come by for a breath test. :o But all he wanted was too ask my vessles name, as a vessle had logged in with the coastguard and not returned by the said time. He knew all my details, other than boat name. He told me when the coastguard get a boat not return, they call him, he calls local cops to check out the local ramps and report back rego of trailers in carparks, he checks database and can call you IF he has your phone number. There were only two car/trailers at ramps in the area and mine was the only number he had. Based on that info the cops in Sydney then authorise the CG or other rescue groups to respond.

[SummerTrance]

I live in fear of returning to the ramp and finding some thieving mongrel has taken my trailer.
Poodroo

Hey Poodroo, Do you use a trailer hitch lock? They lock ya trailer to the towball. they cost about $25, and well worth the investment. They also work when the trailer is not attached to a vehicle, to stop anyone hooking it up and driving away.

[SummerTrance]

I What exactly is this copper going to do with his details, my guess at the end of the shift toss them in the bin.


Trust me mate, those details never end up in the bin. A QPS notebook is an official document, can be called for as evidence, and has strict procedures relating to how to use it. oh, and never get thown away.

[tenzing]

I also was at mud on friday night and returned at 3am as it got very uncomfortable .On returning to manly only 3 other trailers in carpark and no police .
Must not have been worth waiting for the rest to come in.
But at about 8pm while out there some rednecks in a tinnie with no lights started yelling abuse in the direction of the rest of the boats.
There problem was a beer can floated past them and in there drunken eyes it was from one of the other boats there.
Maybe someone informed the police , i myself could not be botherd as they will not be round long if they continue to fish near the new moon in the dark.
Yeah I heard all the racket at about 10 pm. Great use of the F's and C's too!!
I guess that he prefers not to drink goldies himself by the carry on.
He wasnt the only one out there without lights. We tip toed out very carefully so as not to run over one of these speed bumps.Would've been a shame eh?

[black runner]

Last Christmas holidays we were on the way home from a long weekend away and came across the traffic police and water/fisheries police conducting random breath tests/boat rego checks and searches for illegal catch/bag limits. They had set up two pull off lanes - one for cars towing boats and the other just for cars, and the queue went back over a 1 km. Put the wind up a few I reckon. But good to see non-the-less.

Cheers

[QF3 MROCP]

having done a few midnight to dawn radio shifts, it's nice to know the VKQ team are active in the marinas. They are not just 9 - 5 public servants and a few of them actually have boats themselves, hence, have a respect for property ownership.

I must admit, I haven't seen too many drug runs being delivered at midday from the mother ship to the local Mr Whippy van at the boat ramp...

[Davey1]

How many times do you hear people complaining that the cops are never there when you need them! If they're out & about being proactive then that's gotta be better than them stuck in an office chasing paper cuts. If it hasn't already happened, maybe one day this bloke will stop a thief in the middle of flogging one of our hard earned rigs.

I hear ya Poodroo! I know its an offence but I don't even bother locking my car anymore. It has no valuables in it but I use a steering lock on the steering wheel. If some mongrel knows what they are doing & wants to steal it, steering locks & locked doors aren't going to stop them. The cost of repairing broken central locking or smashed windows is not usually enough to warrant paying the excess on an insurance claim but still adds up to several hundred irritating dollars & a lot of running around to get fixed.

An opportunistic thief hopefully won't bother messing with a steering lock, if they do the car is insured. If they steal the car, good luck to them ;D

Its a weird feeling at first leaving it unlocked but you get used to it. About 10 years ago I found my car door half open one morning & the ash tray & glovebox open. A couple of dollars in parking money was stolen but no damage, closed the hatches, removed the steering lock & drove off like nothing had happened.

[BARRA73]

After having just resigned from the QPS after 7 years and seeing some interesting sights throughout that time I can assure you he would have just been gathering intell. By saying that I mean it would be no different than normal cops pulling up cars and performing RBT's, and when they perform licence checks it's normally recorded on an activity report index things like car type etc persons in the car anything suspicious that may be linked to criminal endeavours. As I always told people when I did the same thing you've shouldn't be angry or nervous if you've got nothing to worry about. It's all about knowing who's who in the zoo.

Cheers.

[Chimo]

The more the merrier I say and more they call in on ramps and waterside parking areas the better.

Do it in marked and Q cars as well and maybe pick off a few of the scumbags working these areas.

Thanks for the effort I say.

Cheers
Chimo GOM (two ramp break ins later)

[gawby]

I do not se a problem with the police or the fisheries at the ramp
any time of the day or night. I have had no problems with either
for any reasons and found them to be quite friendly.

I have just come back from the Boyne Tannum Hookup and we were
100 ks out to sea on the Fitzroy Reef and were visited by the water
police who did the usual check of safety gear etc. Very pleasant in their
approach.

So the end result is you do not know when they will turn up and
nor do i care. It is good to see them on patrol.

Graeme

[the gecko]

They already have your boat rego details on database, and have a laptop access on their boat or vehicle. They just dont know who is the driver. Ive watched em do the laptop check right in front of me.

The real reason they ask the 'standard questions' is to see your response; are you slurry, drunk or paranoid, etc.

Andrew

[Whitto]

Vertual License database, Good to c them out and about, should be more of it........Whitto

[charleville]

I always wondered how easy it would be for somone on a ship comming into brisbane from ? to throw overboard a package attached to a small float and have someone else cruise by in a boat a sccop it up.


That has to be the easiest thing in the world to do except that the big ships would have a pilot on board so that the drop would have to be as you say, a simple drop off the ship rather than a rendevous, per se.


However, that would not be limited to the Port of Brisbane. That mechanism could apply in any port.