ID Required onboard vessels in US waters?

[Otter]

All,
A local dive boat Capt posted the following 'warning'..

I had the honor of being one of the boats boarded and checked in this past
weekends CG security check. They did check the boat's documents, licenses,
safety gear and ran every single persons name through the computer. They
collected everyone's ID and over radio spelled them out to another agent who
then ran a check. We sat in the channel while they did this for about 20
minutes. Such is the price for the times we live in. They were very nice
and professional and did the job as quickly as they could. In three trips
Saturday they only stopped and boarded us once. The other two times they
just collected the questionnaire.

If you are traveling by boat this year you may wish you had a US drivers
license or passport on your person, they were less than impressed with me
because all of my passengers did not. They accepted c-cards as ID but let me
know they could have detained the whole boat due to lack of proper ID. Had
we had two agents that were a little more gung ho, it could have been a very
long night.

Capt. Woody

This was news to me, does anyone have any legal references supporting this?

 

[String]

Hmm. Yet more 11/9 paranoia?

There is no way on earth im taking something as valuable as my passport on a dive boat for a day trip in case some unacceptable epithet removed by the Moderator staff decides to ID me..

And more stuff, irrelevant to the conversation, removed by that same brown-shirted Moderator, here.

 

[jlyle]

"This was news to me, does anyone have any legal references supporting this?"

Searches on the high seas predate the Constitution and have been upheld in the courts as not subject to the reasonable cause limits of the fourth amendment.

While you are not required to carry identification, you may have to wait a while if you are detained and don't have proof of who you are. A driver's license or state issued ID card are normally in most people's possession.

 

[shark.byte.usa]

All,
A local dive boat Capt posted the following 'warning'..

I had the honor of being one of the boats boarded and checked in this past
weekends CG security check. They did check the boat's documents, licenses,
safety gear and ran every single persons name through the computer. They
collected everyone's ID and over radio spelled them out to another agent who
then ran a check. We sat in the channel while they did this for about 20
minutes. Such is the price for the times we live in. They were very nice
and professional and did the job as quickly as they could. In three trips
Saturday they only stopped and boarded us once. The other two times they
just collected the questionnaire.

If you are traveling by boat this year you may wish you had a US drivers
license or passport on your person, they were less than impressed with me
because all of my passengers did not. They accepted c-cards as ID but let me
know they could have detained the whole boat due to lack of proper ID. Had
we had two agents that were a little more gung ho, it could have been a very
long night.

Capt. Woody

This was news to me, does anyone have any legal references supporting this?

As an ex Coastie and Boarding officer, I can tell you this is not new, while it may be new to the diving charters, it wasn't that they couldn't do it before, it's that they didn't do it before. Generally it's non evasive and the boat can go about it's business, while the boarding team does it inspection, and the cutter or small boat follows, until the team disembarks. A report is done, good or bad and provided to the Capt., the boarding is entered into a computer, and the chances that you are boarded again in the near future decrease. Although that was all before 9/11 & Homeland Security.

The US Coast Guard can board any boat in US Waters or any US flagged vessel, anywhere! It was more common for us to board Commercial fishing vessels and recreational boaters, I never once boarded a Diving charter in the over 500+ boardings I conducted, and YES while we always gathered ID, we didn't always call in for warrants, etc. On rare occassions if someone didn't have ID, we call it in to that states DMV for a printout/picture or detain.

As for the ID - I mean if a policeman stops you walking down the street and asks you for your id, and you don't have it, he's not going to be too happy. As for the foreign visitors, aren't you required to carry your passport with you? In my opinion this is just common sense.

As for the [that same unacceptable epithet removed, again] reference string I take offense to that, you have no idea what your talking about.

 

[OCdiving Deb]

FYI, the code (14USC89) is written here

In a nutshell, the USCG is charged with ensuring the safety of the waters of the US and has the right to board any boat at any time and may verify the ID of all people (among other things.)

I'd originally assumed this was new law due to the Patriot Act and Homeland Security but that's not true. A well-informed source says, "FWIW, the CG has had at least a limited ability to stop vessels at sea just about as long as the US has existed. The first Congress -- the one that proposed the Bill of Rights (i.e., Fourth Amendment) -- authorized Customs to stop vessels without a warrant."

Deb

 

[shark.byte.usa]

Here is a link to the Coast Guard's Functions and Powers according to 14USC89, which gives the Coast Guard their Law Enforcement abilities. FYI this is also why the Coast Guard is not part of the armed services, prior to being in Homeland Security the Coast Guard was part of the Dept. of Transportation. In a time of war congress can make the CG fall under the Navy, that's why they have the same ranks.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+14USC89

 

[SDAnderson]

It's happening with increasing frequency throughout the Great Lakes along the US/Canadian border. The concensus seems to be that it's like much of the TSA stuff: not particularly effective and designed more to send a message to citizens on both sides of the border: to the US that everything possible is being done to stop the bad guys and to the Canadians that we've noticed the number of bad guys passing unmolested through their turf.

Basically, it's irritating as all get-out, probably only marginally effective, and almost certainly not going away soon. Could be a long summer.

 

[String]

As for the foreign visitors, aren't you required to carry your passport with you?

May vary from state to state but ive checked for my trip in june and no you arent required to carry a passport everywhere.

In my opinion this is just common sense.

Not really, any robbery or loss means you've lost your passport which can cause no end of headache. Ive seen it countless times. The best place for something valuable like a passport is locked up in the safe.

As for the [edit: hardworking defender of his homeland] reference string I take offense to that, you have no idea what your talking about.

Well i take offence at the moderators rewording so ive added an edit into my original post to explain it.

 

[Kim]

I think most countries reserve the right to stop and board any vessels they wish to in their national waters. Like most things it can probably be a pain sometimes if officers behave in an over officious fashion but generally I wouldn't have a problem with it - it's not like I have anything to hide.

String - I saw your original comment and I would have to say that it was uncalled for - I don't think you can object to it being edited. Some words and descriptions shouldn't be bandied about.

 

[SDAnderson]

I'd like to see this conversation continue - as someone who lives on one of the Great Lakes it strikes close to home and it's certainly topical and dive related.

String is a casualty of this thread and has begun an involuntary brief respite from the board, less for his needlessly inflamatory post than for refusing to straighten up and fly right after he was told to knock it off. I hope that there won't be more.

Disagreement is fine, disagreeable is not. Let's all play nice.