Five O on the Potomac

Complete incompetence on part of the police boat operator. I hope the owner of the private vessel sues the pants off the department for negligence and anything else the lawyers can come up with. Just goes to show just because they are law enforcement it doesn't make them safe operators when it come to boats or cars, or aircraft.
 
The fact the Police Boat kept going is the worse part. They had no way of knowing if people were aboard and if folks were aboard they would probably have been injured.
 
No excuses for that kind of response. That is just plain reckless on that officers part.
My guess he was responding to some non-homeland defense emergency that seems to rule up in the cracker box that is DC.
 
Wow! I would love to know just what he was responding to! I'm sure the CG is going to have a few questions for the operator, like why did you leave and not check for injuries or sinking.
 
Mike Blake said:
I have no respect for cops anymore. It's been 10 years None!
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Nor do I! I certainly see no reason for the Department of Homeland "Gestapo" Security (DHS) (over 600,000 currently) other than to control the populace of the USA without the need for Marshall law being declared. The military have no arrest authority, this is the only reason now have a DHS. The CIA and NSA can do the intelligence gathering. we already have local and state police, FBI, DEA, US Marshalls, ATF and assorted other agencies. The terrorist are not going to cross our borders in hordes of thousands, unless you consider granting illegal alien amnesty, then in that case we will have a swarm invading form the south, but not terrorists. If the terrorist do manage to detonate some large weapon, then that is the time for the military, National Guard and reserves to cordon off the area.

Yet under the guise of "security" we now have an agency with over 2 billion rounds of 9mm and 40 caliber hollow points and over 7000 armored carriers for what, Quick name me 7000 major cities in the USA.

I would be more worried about China in a few years becoming a major power to contend with as they are already making a big presence in Central America, and eventually will be able to present a large military presence. They already have a goal of putting their own aircraft carriers into each sea or ocean of the world, while we continue to draw down our military. The DHS is taking money which should be going to our military not to a secret police.

The individual operating that boat needs to be arrested, fired and imprisoned. They should be held to a higher standard, and as such need to pay for this negligence.
 
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This is quintessentially why this country is heading down the wrong path.

Could you imagine if a pleasure boater had done that and fled? I don't what to hear bs that he didn't know they hit.

Just like I'm following up on the guy that created the false mayday, I'm going to follow up on who was responsible for this.
 
I am not sure the video shows the Police boat not stopping. I'll grant you that he did not stop upon first impact, but, there is not enough video to show that he does not stop.
 
After doing a slow motion look at the phone vid....he knew he hit, he was looking back to see what he hit as he slowed the boat down! I would love to read your follow up. I see no possible way the operator can or could talk his way out of a fine and loss of their job. Two boats damaged, one sunk.... This person needs to be held more than accountable, NO operator should be held above the law....even the ones who are supposed to be there to enforce the law!

Another thing to think about here, what if the two boats weren't there? The operators actions endangered a whole lot of folks walking along the boardwalk. What would the outcome have been if he had hit the dock and all those on it?
 
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One thing that really annoys me is that the reports all use weasel words, never accepting the plain truth of what they saw. "Appears to have" - what a crock. That cop didn't "Appear to" do anything. He hit the boats.
 
src said:
One thing that really annoys me is that the reports all use weasel words, never accepting the plain truth of what they saw. "Appears to have" - what a crock. That cop didn't "Appear to" do anything. He hit the boats.
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If a picture is worth a thousand words....no wear in those words would "Appear To" apply in this case.....endangered, damaged, and sunk would be the first three words. Followed by, arrested, fined, trial, and jail time. Problaby gonna cost the taxpayers couple of thousand just to investigate the accident....even tho it's on film!
 
They got the boat up this am. We passed police boats and TowBoatUS hauling this boat to Colombia Island marina. The police had multiple boats that made a rolling road block as the boat was towed in.

The TowBoatUS had to put air bags on either side of the boat to keep it afloat.
Police created a temporary no-wake zone between the 14th St and Memorial bridges. This is where we passed the TowBoat and police.

Crazy they towed the boat with someone riding on the damaged vessel. They had a very difficult time keeping the boat going in a consistent direction.

We did not see the incident itself, just the aftermath.
 
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One other thing, this area where this happened is a no-wake zone. It is also very crowded and there are kayakers near by. This appears to be wreck less operation of a boat.
 
A police escort and rolling road block??

In 20 years on the Potomac I have never seen that.

Most of the time they leave it up to Tow Boat US to figure out how to get a boat back to land and say "good luck". I guess it is different when it is "evidence". It must have attracted some attention at Columbia Island when they dragged it out of the water.

In regards to the comment whether the officer took off and did not return...that is less clear. My friends who were down there reported that the USCG and Fire department showed up and tried to use a pump to keep the boat afloat but the damage was too great. From the video it looks (and sounds) like the prop of the police chewed a hole in the side of the boat.

The water is only 5 feet deep at low tide and 7-8 at high tide so it wasn't going to sink very far.

-John
 
Yeah police made quite a scene between the Memorial bridge and Columbia island. They were out there directing boats to one shore or the other so the tow boat could go right down the middle of the river.

The boat was afloat at that time, but only because it had big air bags attached to both sides.
 
Hit and run by a marine cop! He should be held criminally liable and the department sued for damages. Oh well, I'm sure "national security" was the reason for such an act without regard for life or property.
 
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