five-oh problems

Anyone have to deal with jerky cops on the lakes they ride on? I ride on a city lake so the lake is patrolled by the city police department and there has been this cop that has been terrorizing the lake... He will NOT allow wakesurfing at all and when my friend pointed out that it was not against the law, he replied "it is on MY lake."

Last night my friends and I were riding and it was still light out at 8:40... I know it was 8:40 because when we pulled up on the dock 10 minutes later after emptying the sacs etc, Judge Dread was standing on the dock shining his flashlight in our eyes demanding for all of our driver's licenses... and he told us we were all in big trouble for riding at 8:40... He goes on this big spiel about how sundown is exactly 8:37, and how it goes down by one minute the further into the week you go.. Then he tells us that he has already totaled up the tickets in the car and the fines will be 660 dollars, and every citation issued on a lake is viewed as an "arrest" and you will have to mention it on every job application you fill out (i mentioned that i had just been laid off to try to get out of paying 660 freakin bucks!)...

I used to know the cops patrolling the lake and they were pretty cool... the kind of cops that would roll up on you, just to check out your system on the boat... but this dude is kinda crazy... are any of the things he said true? can fines for riding after sundown be that expensive?? is the actual law riding "after sundown" or "after dark"? I mean for real, it was pretty light out last night at 8:40... does getting citations on a lake actually equate to getting arrested? and by him saying i'd have to mention it on a job app, i'm assuming he's referring to it as a felony or misdomeanor or something? I think it's BS but i'd like to see what you guys think... and can he really forbid wakesurfing on a lake?

This jerk taking away the best water of the day from me...

i dont know about all of that, it sounds pretty weird.........i know that you wont have to write anything on a job app though cuz you havent been convicted of anything, you would have to go through a whole court process and be convicted of a felony for that to even count, but i dont know about anyof the other stuff

We almost got arrested on the golf course last night. He, he, seems we pissed off an off duty cop when we drove through a sand trap. The cops were waiting for us when we got off the course. Had to be almost as stupid as the cop telling you that the sun went down at 8:37 and you were riding at 8:40. I would've asked to see the atomic calibration on his watch!!! Just to make sure he had his time right.

By the way, there is usually some type of law that restricts wakesurfing because of the proximity to the boat and the way the boat is weighted, but the law is usually really vague. I don't know what your local laws are like, but sometimes it comes down to whether or not the cop is an a$$.

Drumnwake, that is how come Draper SUCKS...
The lake patrol are the people who flunked out of regular cop school.

Based on the few facts given, I would say be respectful at first, tell his (azz)holyness that your sorry and it wont happen again. If that doesn't work, well I know I wouldn't take a couple tickets from someone who is being a jackazz without giving him a piece of my mind first. The whole arrest bit is BS, unless you've been drinking.

Has he given you warnings before?
Did you get a citation?

Ask another patrolman to explain the wakesurfing law to you so you'll know.

Weel as far as the "sundown rule" goes, I know that when the sun goes down you are supposed to quit. We had a cop pull us over just to check to see if we had enough vests and everything. He was pretty cool but he told us when we were leaving, (it was getting close to sundown)that we had about 10 minutes left. So my roommate got a couple more passes in and we were done. So the rule is that if the sun is down you have to be done. However, if it was that close to the time, that can come down to your watch being off a few minutes. I would think you could get out of that one. It looks like you got a somebody who got made fun of in high school and decided to become a cop just so he could go on his little power trip to make himself feel better!!!

drumnwake, i have seen your boat at draper. is that the lake you were on? If so usually the cops there are pretty cool, that sucks man!

Yeah dude those guys can get nasty. Just think, our tax money goes to these guys so they can ride around on the water all day every day just to give us insane tickets. What a waste.

I'm pretty sure having "Wake and Bake" on your boat doesn't help matters either.

can you ride 1 hour after sundown where you live??? cuz we can here in michigan

nice piont Jay, I dont see how you could expect to have anything but problems with the local cops with that on your boat. explains alot..

Yes having wake and bake on your boat and I also see the 420 in your post name.I would say try not to expose yourself to much,but I'm not one to worry about.We go to thunderbird they are a little cooler out there.

Yeah the cops out there at the beginning of the summer were pretty cool... like i mentioned before, they stopped me a couple of times just to check out the stereo system. This cop has been out there for the last month or so, and while i realize the name of my boat could be a factor in this, i really doubt it as I've seen him stop a lot more boats than me... He's only talked to me twice... once because he stopped two other boats in the cove i was in for wakesurfing, then pulled me over cuz he thought that we were doing it as well... And the other at the dock when he tried to give me those insane tickets... oh and then the next night he rolled up on us RIGHT at sundown but he was pretty cool cuz i was in the water smiling at him with my board pulled off and thrown 10 feet away from me, and i told him that i had the girls on the boat hold their cellphones in their hands and to tell the driver and i EXACTLY when it was 8:36... He just laughed and said that we were still 6 minutes off by his watch, cracked a joke and rode away...

While i see the point in the name of my boat, I think this cop in particular just likes the powertrip to be honest. He was cool in the fact that he didn't give me a ticket that night after my girlfriend and i begged him to let me off with a warning... but his whole attitude and demeanor turns me off... if it's against the law, it's against the law... But the whole "I have the power to outlaw anything cuz it's 'MY LAKE'" etc is a little over the top for me...

I have a lot of friends in the okc police department, and when i mentioned that i worked with a few of them his answer was "well i don't like most cops so you might as well not even mention their names anymore".. i also thought that was a bit cocky and rude.. maybe we now know why he's stuck on lake patrol?

drumnwake...it's cause you have Wake n Bake on the side of your glastron, the cop was looking to see if you guys were smoking.

Yep, that's one of the dumbest things I've seen Mango.

Kind of like a big huge sign "Come'n'get me!"

Here's some stuff from the Oklahoma statutes:

B. Sunrise to sunset...period. Some states, including Texas, allow an extra 1/2 hour before and after.

D. That might be the wakesurfing law. They could argue that being that close to the boat puts you in a situation where you can collide with the boat. You can't really argue with that since I believe it is fairly common to hit the transom while wakesurfing. That's the most appropriate law I've found against wakesurfing (I think I've searched the statutes of TX, CA, and WA).

The actual text:


B. No person shall operate or give permission to operate a vessel on any waters of this state towing a person or persons using parasails or on water skis, a surfboard, a sailboard or similar device nor shall any person engage in parasailing, water skiing, surfboarding, sailboarding or similar activity at any time between the hours from sunset to sunrise or at such time visibility due to other existing conditions is obscured so as to endanger life or property.

...

D. No person shall operate or give permission to operate or manipulate any vessel, tow rope or other device by which the direction or location of parasails, water skis, a surfboard, or similar device may be affected or controlled in such a way as to cause the parasails, water skis, surfboard, or similar device, or any person thereon to collide with or strike against any object or person.

Texas Law:

It is unlawful for any person to:

Engage in water skiing, surfboarding or other similar activity between the hours of ½ hour after sunset to ½ hour before sunrise; provided that this shall not apply to vessels used in recognized water ski tournaments, competitions, exhibitions or trials, provided that the water area is adequately lighted.

McFly

we had this one cop on our lake who was actually a k-9 unit out on some other call who saw us out boarding at about 9:00pm last year, he then got some boat owner on shore to give him a ride out so he could get out on our boat to ticket us. we then took him back to our cottage got out this little booklet with michigan boating laws and showed him the law saying jet skis have to be off the lake an hour before sunset and skiers have until an hour AFTER sunset, well he felt stupid and left without appolagizing for ruining the rest of our session and boarding our boat and then he tryed to cover up with "well, it was too dark to see" when we still had about an hour to go and could see fine. we called the sheriffs department and got his ass chewed out. we also have an hour before sunrise and jet skis can't ride until an hour after sunrise. these are the laws for michigan check with the police department in your area for the laws.

I got a stupid ticket last year. After he wrote me the ticket I asked for his Lieutenants name and #. I won't go into the details of the ticket but after looking up the law he cited me for, finding out it had been appealed 3 years prior, going to court and getting out of it, I sent his Lieutenant a nice little letter saying how he really screwed up our day by making us follow him 3 miles to the public dock, spending 45 minutes doing an inspection of our boat, and just being an ass. I think I ended the letter by saying something to extent of how happy I was my tax money was going to this waste of human flesh and that I would make sure the people I knew on the board of commisioners would hear my story.

We only saw the cop two more times on the lake, then for some reason he got replaced.

Washington also has an extra hour of riding before sunrise and after sunset. You oughta check the actual law in your state. As far as the wakesurfing goes, from what I've gathered no laws specifically state that wakesurfing is illegal, there are just some lakes/states have a no riding within 20 feet of the back of the boat. You should print up all of the rules and regulations for your state and the lakes you ride on and carry it with you, that's what I did. If I ever get pulled over for something questionable like that, I've got the rule book right there with me to educate the sherrif on what is and isn't illegal.

Here in Central Michigan. I go out wakeboarding every week and have only seen the cops out there a couple of times and the DNR once. I have mentioned several times and even emailed the police about the freken jet skiers that chase your wake all day long. Just a couple of weeks ago two girls were behind a boat on this lake and was hit by a jet skier one died just the other day. I wish here the cops did more.
I have been out at dusk several times and a couple of times at night and have heard nothing about being off the lake, but I'm glad you brought that up. I have a CCW permit and I know hear in Michigan if the DNR give you a ticket for even going to fast in a no wake zone it is a misdemeanor and I will lose my permit for any misdemeanor.
From the stuff you have said he has stopped you for I think I would try to go over his head and ask questions about the law (trying to make it sound like you just want to obey the law not that you are out to get that sheriff). Then maybe if he is wrong someone will say something to him or if you do get fined you have credible people to bring up that you tried to find out what was right.

Be Safe and don’t look for trouble.

Just as an FYI to those in oklahoma, i found this site when doing some research... http://www.dps.state.ok.us/ohp/aboutlp.htm

yah the law states you can tow skiiers only between sunrise and sunset Wish it was 30 mins before and after like texas...

Theres a lot of useful info on that page... click on boating safety manual...

peace

Best thing to do with cocky police officers is to use the recording function on most cell phones, or call an answering machine, and record everything they say to you. Then if they get out of hand send a copy to the news and their superiors.

oh yeah, I also didn't see anything within the laws saying that wakesurfing is illegal... I don't have the boat to wakesurf yet myself, but to those of you who have been stopped at draper, that guide is easily printed in PDF format... i'd love to see someone shove it in that guy's face who says it's illegal to do it on "HIS" lake.... too bad Draper is city owned and in all technicallity, OUR lake as well...

dnw420-

We were out last nite on Draper and the cop seemed nice enough. He waved and smiled a few times as we passed. He did manage to bust 4 water maggots (jet skis) in thirty minutes as we waited for friends to show up...
Quite amusing.

D

Yeah my buddy and I were riding the delta a month ago and got pulled over. We had no spoter, 1 approved life vest(3 non-approve still doesn't equal 1, we tried), and no throw cushion. Well we got off with a warning and when i got home those bright orange vest and the throw cushion went back in the boat.