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LETTERSyour degree and put you to work cleaning the hulls ofanchored vessels.All this condemnation of the editor and Mr. Liscio isbased upon my interpretation of a single anecdotalencounter with them. How does it feel?Name Withheld (The writer asked that his name bewithheld so that the organization that he works for wouldnot interpret this letter as anything but his personal view.)Name Withheld,It doesn’t feel bad. I don’t mind one bit. Judge me.This letter addresses so many important issues cruisers facein confronting the on-the-water police in Florida that I willanswer this in depth.I know that I am guilty of judging many FWC and localmarine patrol officers by the actions of a few, but I have gotten somany letters, e-mails and phone calls that tell the same similarstory of poor treatment and intimidation by the on-the-waterpolice, that I don’t care anymore. I have always, in all my responses(as I remember) to letters that complain about the water police,made the same comment: When are all the good water police inFlorida going to get upset and pissed off at all those officers whoare making boaters frightened of an encounter with the waterpolice? Or do the good ones not know or don’t care or are afraid tospeak up?Keep in mind, this is a sailing magazine (although a lot ofpowerboat cruisers fit this lifestyle), and we are talking aboutsailors and cruisers here. I suggest you check the statistics onsailors and cruisers versus other types of boaters to see where 95percent of serious accidents come from, if not 99 percent. Andwhat are the statistics of accidents by people dinghying 50 feetashore without a life jacket or whistle? How far is 50 feet? Is it the“buzzword” around police offices that you can always get someonefor not having a whistle on a dinghy? I bet about anythingthat police converse on that subject and it appears to be a trendnow—a petty trend. Before the last couple of years, I never heardof anyone getting a citation for that. Is it illegal to not have awhistle? Yes, but how about some perspective? How many cruisers/sailorsout there have dinghied 50 feet to shore hundreds oftimes without carrying a whistle and never had a problem?Should you have one if you go 50 feet? Not as important as if yougo a mile. Okay, a citation for a mile is reasonable. How about 40feet? How about 10 feet? Should you get even a warning at 10feet? What kind of police officer—or human being—would give aticket at 10 feet? Why not?—it’s illegal. How about if I swim 500feet from my anchored boat to go ashore? Should I swim with awhistle? No law requires it. Which situation is safer? If I drivehalf a block to my neighbor’s house, do I have to put on my seatbelt?Should an officer give me a ticket if he sees me without one?Would that be reasonable for an officer to do? Absolutely not. If anofficer did that, he should be reprimanded for stupidity, or justplain fired. I don’t care what the law is. The law is an estimate ofhow we should live together, not a chain around our necks. We arenot all in one big military unit, and the police do not rule over usto keep us in line as if we were their subjects.Bu the biggest perspective we all need to see here is the differencebetween the attitude of this letter writer and us sailors andcruisers. We are so far removed from the actions taken in a CopsTV program, that this is proof of how huge the divide is betweenthe police and the public on the water. It is ludicrous to draw acomparison between actions filmed on Cops and a family14 April 2008 SOUTHWINDS www.southwindsmagazine.com