Five O on the Potomac

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Gotta love some of the responses, f#*^g idiots, they should be sued, etc,,,, obviously you guys have had a run on with the "law" once or twice. Are you kidding ?? Really? First of, the professional police officer turns his boat to the heading of which the Emergency is, unfortunately he is not a a professional Captain "like most on this forum" and second, he is human, unfortunately he struck another vessel like many others here may have. You guys are ready to hang him high and ruin his life by "suing" him this response is disgusting to me , fortunately no one was aboard the docked boat and as many officers do as I know personally after a tragic accident kill them selves, after dealing with the guilt of causing an "accident" I really hope some of you think before you type , we're talking about some fiberglass ,here how about you think how the "cop" feels ? Or is that too much to ask? And ps, he did stop after realizing the accident, Unbelievable. !! Really.
 
It was a Sea Ray.......

One of the reports said it was a 40' boat.... I had to laugh. They just read what's on the prompter, don't they......

Havana, you don't need to be a "professional captain" to know you shouldn't drive a boat in this manner. Defend him if you want, it speaks volumes about your bias. I was on another forum where another officer calmly stated that he will be handled properly and that the officer was in the wrong. It's officers that think with a level head and not just defend the fraternity that give officers a good name...something to think about.
 
Boat guy, I hear you belive you me, I've jumped over fences in Brooklyn on a midnight after guys with guns , so this is not a big deal. But I'm just trying to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. He did stop after striking the other vessel and belive it or not I'd do the same for firemen!!! Ha ha ( we're supposed to hate them) but I can't find the hatred!!!! It's just very easy to "hate" the cop" and frankly that's part of the problem with this country! Everyone wants a pay day!!!!
 
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Havana Shamrock said:
Boat guy, I hear you......It's just very easy to "hate" the cop" and frankly that's part of the problem with this country! Everyone wants a pay day!!!!
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Lawsuits aside.....I think even bringing up lawsuits is ridiculous. This is an issue of reprimand for poor behavior.

I'm happy to give him every benefit of every doubt. But, the video leaves little to doubt. I don't know why you say he stopped. I don't see him stopping in the video nor have I heard he stopped in any of the reports. Maybe he stopped. I hope he did..... While it appears he was grandstanding in that turn and acting reckless, that doesn't come close to the disappointment of him leaving the scene.

I hope you are right....

I have asked on another forum for the report and officers name. Maybe some of the information will confirm what you are saying.
 
Well at 0:12 sec into the video you can clearly see the police boat settle down back into the water , that to me looks like he realized what had just happened" an accident" just like "real" people have everyday. I don't see the agrument anywhere in this video .
 
I think he stops.
Poor boating decision? Of course.
Acted as if he is "above the law"? No, maybe he just made a serious error in judgement.
Lawsuit? No need. His agency is probably authorizing payment as we speak.
Jail time? Far too few facts to even debate that.

I know this is a serious topic. But nobody has mentioned that deluxe fender hanging off the starboard side of the Sea Ray............Dude! Really?
 
Wow, right where I tied up for my birthday. As Ryan said, this is a no wake zone and the last time we rode up that way, there literally had to be over 40 kayaks and canoes in the area all heading in opposite directions. Not safe at all for driving at an excessive speed no matter who you are. Looks like the boat is either a 250 or 240 Sundancer.

The speed of the police boat reminds me of the first time I took a boat up the river to DC over 20 years ago. We were in a 17 foot bow rider idling up river after the First Gulf War parade and fly over. A DC police boat took off after something and created a huge bow wave that almost swamped my tiny bow rider. Guess things haven't changed much.

Mike
 
A few other thoughts..

He apparently also hit the larger boat behind the Sundancer. It can't tell, but it may be another SeaRay. I didn't see any photos or reports on its specific damage.

Second, I'm not defending the cop, but if you look at how close he comes to that tour boat he may have had to speed away to avoid another collision. It didn't look like the tour boat wasn't all that full, but those things run back and forth to Goergetown all the time. I'm sure the professional captain at the helm of that boat will has a good perspective to tell investigators.

It is not uncommon to see DC police speed up river in that section to get beyond the Key Bridge, but they usually do it with clear visibility and when no one else is in the way. It is often to chase after a bow rider not obeying the no wake zone. With that said, when I do see USCG boats up there they never drive like that. At least not in my experience.

For the most part the DC marine unit is a decent group. They operate out of their own tiny precinct on the SW waterfront. It's the same place you go to get you registration stickers.
 
This video from a Baltimore news station shows the boat owners and the damage to the boat.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/09/01/d-c-police-boat-crashes-into-2-others-in-georgetown/

The officer involved is also heard on the video.

Those of us who have been on the river for a long time know most of these officers. There job rarely includes "saving peoples lives in the water" as the news report suggest. More often it is busting people for improper registration, overcrowding, on-water DUIs and fishing without a DC license.

In this case, his boat was the second to leave the dock and respond to a call. The first one left with no problems. The guy simply was showing off and lost control of his boat.....yes that happens to people who are not police officers all the time.

What makes it different is that he should know better and that is why he is held to a different standard. If that was done by a civilian, I can assure you that he/she would have been arrested on the spot and taken away in handcuffs regardless of the reason.

-John
 
What's everyone upset about? After all as the reporter said "It's just an insuance matter." REALLY??!!
BTW did anyone else see the pictures on Fox and Friends? Amazing what a prop can do to fiberglass. Nice spiral pattern too.
 
The National Potomac Yacht club has some great photos on their Facebook page when the boat got back to Columbia Island. It is a 240. The prop sawed through the fiberglass from the waterline to the rub rail for about 5 feet leaving a huge hole.

Just go to FB and search National Potomac Yacht Club.

I just saw a report that they were responding to a call that someone jumped off the pirate ship Boomerang. This is a party charter boat in DC that looks like a mix between an old barge and a pirate ship. Just a bunch of drunk idiots.
http://boomerangpirateship.com/

This also brings up a valid concern about out of control commercialization of the Gtown waterfront. NPS already took back part of the dock earlier this summer for more tour boats. The number of commercial vessels in this area has doubled in the past couple of years. You have kayakers, paddle boarders, recreational boaters and commercial vessels all in the same area. And the commercial vessels move at speed and rarely give way.
 
Havana Shamrock said:
Well at 0:12 sec into the video you can clearly see the police boat settle down back into the water , that to me looks like he realized what had just happened" an accident" just like "real" people have everyday. I don't see the agrument anywhere in this video .
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I believe you are incorrect.....

I contacted the person who made the video and a person stated the officer left the scene.

He did also hit the larger boat behind the one he sunk. This is according to the boat owner himself who was on his boat.

According to playdate, "In this case, his boat was the second to leave the dock and respond to a call. The first one left with no problems. The guy simply was showing off and lost control of his boat.....yes that happens to people who are not police officers all the time."

I don't know where he is getting his information, but mine came directly from the owner of the larger boat and a person responding to my question (Still trying to get confirmation from the video maker. I thought initially it was him who responded). If playdate is correct and he was actually the second boat to respond to a call, I think it adds insult to injury.

Do you still want to defend him?

I believe your opinion came from reviewing the video and determining, with a bias, that you saw the police boat slow and assumed he came to a stop. I could see the same portion of the video and while it looked to me to be maybe a reduction in RPM the difference in wake was due to a course change. That's why I didn't rush to judgement either way.

Now that it has been confirmed that the officer did hit two boats, made an impact that sunk one, and then left the scene, was possibly the second responder to a "drowning victim" (honestly since this hasn't been confirmed, I find it suspect. Just because an idiot might have jumped from a boat doesn't make him a drowning victim.), what are your thoughts?

You know what else I find troubling? The way this officer responds to, who I believe is, the second boat owner as shown in the video playdate linked to. There are ways to talk to people and using an authoritative voice in this instance speaks volumes to the demeanor and nature of these officers.
 
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I was a driver/operator for many years. I've driven some of the largest and smallest fire department vehicles on the market. The first, middle, and last things tought to us...NEVER endanger your life, others lives, and or property. Also never let the nature of the call get the best of you.

I see many hours of operator training in the P.D.'s Boat department! ( I'd love to know how many hours of training he had before being placed in that position) I've seen pump/operators with less than 10 hours behind the wheel taking 1000 gallons of water down the road to a call
 
dwna1a said:
I was a driver/operator for many years. I've driven some of the largest and smallest fire department vehicles on the market. The first, middle, and last things tought to us...NEVER endanger your life, others lives, and or property. Also never let the nature of the call get the best of you.

I see many hours of operator training in the P.D.'s Boat department! ( I'd love to know how many hours of training he had before being placed in that position) I've seen pump/operators with less than 10 hours behind the wheel taking 1000 gallons of water down the road to a call
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I'm not slamming the DC harbour patrol but... I saw a group of officers breaking in a new guy with docking maneuvers within an empty slip at the Gangplank marina in June. The dude couldn't handle the boat very well. Maybe it was one of the rookies which was at the helm Saturday.

And as far as someone jumping in the water north of the Key bridge, super dangerous. The current from the falls to the Key bridge is deadly. Doesn't look too bad, until it sucks you straight down to the bottom and holds you there. They shouldn't have party boats in those waters, its just asking for trouble.

And as far as a payout goes, let's just say it wouldn't be a first for the D.C. government. Have you heard about the DCFD? The whole DC government is broken and corrupt. There are bad apples hanging all over the tree.

One final thought. Why did they find it necessary to haul a$$ for someone in the water, but when I saw them respond to a heart attack with CPR in progress they never passed no wake speed. Maybe things have changed since the nineties and now its OK to be reckless for the most trivial of events.
 
And for those staunchly defending the operator, realize that a lot of the initial knee-jerk hostility comes from LONG experience that tells us that no matter how serious the offence, the most we can expect for the cop who did this is "temporarily removed from patrol duty pending investigation", followed shortly thereafter by "returned to duty" as soon as the news cycle turns to some other story.

This guy endangered lives. A civilian would have been arrested on the spot. A cop gets "appears to have hit another boat".
 
I can't believe that anything will happen to this Officer. I have family members on the job, and the stories they tell of Police escapades make this seem like it's a walk in the park for those involved. As it was an ACCIDENT, the Police operator is in for a stern lecture from his Commander, and that's about it.........
 
Tha marine police in our area are becoming more militant every year. Seems like every dept has new nice boats We are pulled up on the beach in a NO WAKE zone and the 26' police boat flys by throwing a huge wake to go after a jet ski going too fast in a no wake zone. So important to endanger everyone because of a too fast waverunner. They will pull you over and board for no reason in the middle of the channel. It is getting out of hand. I for one hope they pay and this officer gets stuck walking a beat in the hood at night
 
spfortjohn said:
Tha marine police in our area are becoming more militant every year. Seems like every dept has new nice boats We are pulled up on the beach in a NO WAKE zone and the 26' police boat flys by throwing a huge wake to go after a jet ski going too fast in a no wake zone. So important to endanger everyone because of a too fast waverunner. They will pull you over and board for no reason in the middle of the channel. It is getting out of hand. I for one hope they pay and this officer gets stuck walking a beat in the hood at night
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No...let him walk the boardwalk beat, and look out upon the job he used to have!
 
After 11 years in DC, five of which working as a news manager for a local tv station, my guess is the guy will be reassigned. MPD does this whenever their officers end up in the news. The dramatic video will also play a factor since good pictures extend the news cycle.

I can't say I've see the Coast Guard maneuver like this in such close proximity to other boats and they are on the river all the time. Bottom line, guy messed up. Thankfully no one was hurt.
 
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