Lane's Cove Harrasment 6-17

[ScubaNorth]

Just to clarify - In this instance The coolers were sitting alone on the rocks. The nice policeman asked me who's coolers they were. I said I didn't know. He asked if there were Lobsters in the coolers. I again said I didn't know. He opened the coolers to look inside.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...Al

The suspense is killing me, what happened next? Were there any Lobsters in the coolers? Come on don't leave us hanging. Is this a gripe about parking tickets? How did we get into Constitutional Law 101?

 

[STOGEY]

Key part of that arguement is that you and I don't pay taxes in G/R. The cops there are clearly responding to pressure put on them by the LOCAL taxpayers. And the only state rep who would have ANY sort of influence on the local G/R cops is the LOCAL state rep, who is under the same sort of local pressure.

I doubt that you would agree with the arguement from tourons, "Hey, if you don't like the traffic that I and all my touron friends bring to your town, you should move>' I bet you would suggest he shove his car somewhere uncomfortable.

Actually you and I may not be paying local taxes in Rockport, but if you live or work in Mass you are paying income taxes, and every time you buy gas in Rockkport you are paying taxes there as well. If it weren't for the tourists in ROckport the police department wouldn't be as big as it is either.

 

[christine1223]

take measurements of sign. go home. create sign on sticky paper, "PARKING FOR DIVERS ONLY: all others will be ticketed and towed."
Go to dive spot, stick on sign, go diving.

I wonder how many years in jail you would get for this stunt!!! 10-20 years would be well worth it!!!

 

[ckjacques53198]

I've lived in a few coastal towns in massachusetts (plymoth and falmouth) that thrive on tourism. The fact is that people that own homes that even get the slightest peak of anything bigger than a puddle get very involved in who is driving down their road and where people are parking. People get crazy around water. Public access has often been tough to fid or made to appear it is private property. Your best bet is probably to load all your gear in one vehicle and drop it off at the site and park in a universally allowed spot.

 

[STOGEY]

I wonder how many years in jail you would get for this stunt!!! 10-20 years would be well worth it!!!

I actually wonder how long it will take for the cops and locals to figure out that the signs have been changed?

 

[scubapaws]

I was another of the divers who got ticketed that same day. I dove there all last year without any hassles at all. Last year the signs warned not to block the road. This year they were suddenly changed - but anyone who went there for years already knew what the signs said, and never expected that they had been changed....:shakehead

 

[christine1223]

I actually wonder how long it will take for the cops and locals to figure out that the signs have been changed?

Probably 10-20 years, so what is the difference, we would be in the clear...

 

[large_diver]

I've talked to many Gloucester and Rockport police officers before about why they respond (i've been ticketed, checked for legal lobsters...same as the rest of us).

If they show up, it is absolutely because someone (lobsterman, resident, etc.) has called them. The police say that anytime a resident calls, they are obligated to respond. Somtimes it is about parking; once, an officer climbed all the way down Cathedral Rocks to talk to a group of us -- a local lobsterman was PO'ed because the big Cape Ann Divers boat was just offshore, we were divnig from shore, and he was trying to get to his traps. He called the Harbormaster, who called the Rockport PD.

You may not be doing anything wrong, but they will show up and at least make a show of it. If there anything indeed wrong (parking at Folly without a permit, etc.), then of course they will ticket.

Each officer is different -- some are friendly, some are not. Some could be the brother of the local lobsterman you've pissed off or whose family earns a living from lobsters....you never know.

-Chris

 

[Diesel298]

the should put up a big sign as your going over the bridge
"welcome to cape ann. permit parking only"
"spend your money somewhere else"

 

[mstevens]

Actually the police can do what they want

When I was in high school, my dad was chief appellate defense counsel for the US Air Force, soon to be chief judge on the USAF first circuit court. For whatever reason, I tended to turn to him for answers to legal questions.

I was watching a TV movie that depicted what I thought was a highly questionable search by cops. I asked, "Dad, they can't do that, can they?" I'll always remember his answer: "Of course they can, Mark. They have guns."