Boat owners say they were fearful during Coast Guard search

The Monterey Herald ^ | September 18, 2005 | VIRGINIA HENNESSEY

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Two of the Moss Landing Harbor residents who were the subjects of random boat searches during Labor Day Weekend say their experiences were closer to armed invasions than the friendly "safety inspections" characterized by U.S. Coast Guard officials.

Both residents said search crews entered the harbor in inflatable boats with machine guns mounted on their bows. Then, carrying M-16 rifles, they approached residents and boarded and searched their boats in the name of safety and "homeland security."

One resident, who asked not to be identified for fear or retribution, said his experience was "very intimidating, very frightening."

"To me it reeks of Nazi Germany and the death squads in Argentina," he said. "I don't want my name on their list."

Scott Jones, a live-aboard resident who was searched, said there has been talk in the harbor about contacting the American Civil Liberties Union, but he first wants to hear further from the Coast Guard about its future intentions.

Lt. Mark Warren of the Monterey Coast Guard Station said he has heard mostly positive response to the operation, but may rethink future actions given current criticisms.

"We take lessons and learn from these types of operations. If the public is genuinely distasteful of it, we might not do it," he said. "I'm not saying we won't, but I'm not saying we will."

In addition to trying to ensure the safety of boats on the bay during the holiday weekend, Warren said, the operation was part of an effort to increase the public's awareness of the Coast Guard's role as a law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security. He said the public might have been surprised to see weaponry that is now standard issue to all Homeland Security forces.

"I, as a U.S. citizen, am highly offended by that," said Jones, who is accustomed to Coast Guard boardings when he sails. "When a sheriff's deputy drives down the road or a CHP officer drives down the road and I see them, I'm aware of his job, and not because he's pulled me over and put a gun to my head.

"The Coast Guard's needs would be better served by an advertising campaign," he said, "rather than bullying people in their bedrooms at 10:30 at night."

Jones said he and his wife were sleeping when they were awakened by knocking on the side of the boat.

He went to the deck and was confronted by two armed officers asking if they could come aboard. Thinking something had happened in the harbor that the officers needed to talk to him about, Jones acquiesced.

"It seemed a little unreasonable at 10:30 at night," he said, "but it was the middle of the night and I was half asleep, so I said 'OK.' At this point, I looked out and saw six to eight officers (on the dock) and all appeared armed."

The officers boarded his boat and quickly spread out beyond the immediate deck without invitation, saying they were conducting a safety inspection.

"I can say with all certainly that what they did was not a safety inspection or in any way related to a safety inspection," he said. The officers demanded access to the bilge, saying they wanted to make sure the boat wasn't taking on water.

"This was highly suspect," Jones said. "If you're on board, you'd know if you were taking on water."

When Jones showed them the bilge, the officers repeatedly, and with increasing forcefulness, demanded to know if there were other accesses to the bilge. They also "demanded" the driver's licenses of everyone on board.

Increasingly upset by the nature of the search, Jones asked for the officers' authority and justification. One officer read to him from a federal code authorizing the search.

"It was either the Patriot Act or homeland security,"Jones said.

Warren said the officers would not have cited the Patriot Act because it affords the Coast Guard no additional authority.

Jones conceded he may have heard "homeland security" and registered "Patriot Act," but still feels the search was unwarranted and in a gray area of the law at best.

"I wouldn't question their professionalism, but I do question their motive and their authority," he said. "To me, it sounds like something that an ACLU lawyer would just tear apart."

Coast Guard officials say they are authorized by maritime law to board and search vessels on U.S. waters, including waters that lead to U.S. waters, to enforce federal laws.

Warren said the officers were attempting to ensure the safety and compliance of docked boats by checking for oily water in their bilges and that their sanitation devices were in locked position. Some searches were conducted at night in an effort to catch boats before they went onto the bay for the weekend.

The second boat owner who spoke to The Herald said his boat was searched after he challenged officers who were searching other boats, at 10:30 p.m. Sept. 2, and during the morning on following days. Told they were acting as Homeland Security officers, he asked what they were protecting the harbor from.

"Terrorists," he said he was told by the officers, who exhorted him to "remember the Cole," referring to the October 2000 attack by terrorists on the USS Cole that killed 17 sailors.

"The only terrorists down here are you guys," he told them. "You're scaring the hell out of me with that machine gun."

While Warren was noncommittal about future searches, he said it is important for the public to know the Coast Guard's presence will be increased.

"The Coast Guard's focus on homeland security has increased our presence on the water and will continue to increase our presence simply because that's what Congress is wanting us to do right now," he said. "The concern at the congressional level about the security of ports is pretty high."

[R. Scott]

Where have you been? They are legal now! It is a brave new world.

But still not accepted by the majority. When that happens, Sieg Heil!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[THEUPMAN]

We keep saying it: next time you capsize or need rescuing, call your local drug cartel.





The old trade freedoms for "safety" thing.

[The_Media_never_lie]

There's something to this story that doesn't add up. 6-8 person boarding party harassing a docked boat at 10:30 p.m. without any cause?

I'll bet there's more to this story than reported.

[thefactor]

i was unaware that drug runners and other criminals keep 9-5 schedules.

[Nov3]

But still not accepted by the majority.

Where have you been? The vast majority of FR supports it. It is a brave new site.

[freema]

Is their a 'fast food mentality' or a lot of ADD on this thread, or am I just nuts.
Don't answer : )
Whatever happened to better safe than sorry?
"Jack Boot Thugs." Where'd that come from?
Don't answer that one either : )

What about those manhole explosions, etc....
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8589929/
Updated: 11:03 p.m. ET July 15, 2005
LOS ANGELES - Law enforcement authorities warned the Israeli Consulate and California National Guard that their facilities were on a list of possible terror targets that police found recently while investigating a string of robberies, officials said Friday.

“We’re very concerned about it,” said Maj. Jon Siepmann, the California National Guard’s deputy director of communications. “There was evidence that an attack was at least being planned.”

Police found the list while searching the home of a man arrested last week in connection with gas station robberies in south Santa Monica Bay communities. The list included three National Guard facilities in the greater Los Angeles area, said Siepmann, who described the threat as apparently “very serious.”

[Nov3]

I'll bet there's more to this story than reported.

What ever it is you will support it! Per your earlier quote (with no outrage on your part!)

I think we may not know the whole story. These guys may have earned a spot on sombody's watch list. Maybe the guy is a smart A and this is payback.

Give me a break. Abuses under color of authority seem to be OK with you.

[Mathews]

Yep, there had to be some sort of intell here. I don't see Coasties just showing up, at night, to conduct safety inspections. They were looking for something/someone else. As far as the owners go... well, if it were me conducting the searches/inspections, I'd say, "The job comes first." I wouldn't worry one bit if someone got their panties in a bunch. Let the lawyers hash it out.

[freema]

Who said they acted like Nazi storm troopers?

No, it's not too much to ask for them to be polite and courteous to law-abiding American boat owners.

........and they're supposed to know which ones are law-abiding American boat owners, how?

[AppyPappy]

If terrorists had used a boat to kill a bunch of people, we would be criticizing the Coast Guard for allowing it to happen.

[R. Scott]

I will have to assume that you would not mind being rousted at night in your home for a drug search.

[R. Scott]

There are a few here who accept it. I also believe they think it will never happen to them because they are “law abiding citizens”. Some would even welcome being rousted from their bed in the middle of the night if it would help win the War on drugs, War on Terror, war on Crime, War on ____. They aren’t yet in the majority.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

"And this is the way it will be as long as the US enforces it's right to maintain borders. Many people forget that a navigable waterway is a border."

I am convinced that some of the folks complaining the loudest on this thread are either Libertarians/liberals who hate the notion of borders, or they make their living by engaging in smuggling.

[freema]

Why couldn't I put into plain English, what you just said? LOL!

[Fierce Allegiance]

I was a coastie. I did hundreds of these boardings. My job was to cover the crew of the boat we inspected. I carried a 45 and a remington 870 sea service shotgun, short baerrel.

[thefactor]

if there were probable cause to search my house, then yes. if not, there's always litigation. i am one who thinks the authorities should be able to fight crime without the permission of the ACLU.

[GodBlessUSA]

What is the United States Coast Guard?

The U.S. Coast Guard is one of five branches of the US Armed Forces, and falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Coast Guard is the country's oldest continuous seagoing service with responsibilities including Search and Rescue (SAR), Maritime Law Enforcement (MLE), Aids to Navigation (ATON), Icebreaking, Environmental Protection, Port Security and Military Readiness. In order to accomplish these missions the Coast Guard's 38,000 active-duty men and women, 8,000 Reservists, and 35,000 Auxiliarists serve in a variety of job fields ranging from operation specialists and small-boat operators and maintenance specialists to electronic technicians and aviation mechanics. The Coast Guard, during an average day, will:

Conduct 109 Search and Rescue Cases

Save 10 lives Assist 192 people in distress

Protect $2,791,841 in property

Launch 396 small boat missions

Launch 164 aircraft missions, logging 324 hours

Board 144 vessels

Seize 169 pounds of marijuana and 306 pounds of cocaine worth $9,589,000

Intercept 14 illegal migrants

Board 100 large vessels for port safety checks

Respond to 20 oil or hazardous chemical spills totaling 2,800 gallons

Service 135 aids to navigation

Thank You Coast Guard, Always Ready, Always there, American Heroes, God Bless!

[SevenDaysInMay]

Blackrobes have costantly RULED that Boats and Motor Homes are "conveyances", not homes protected by our Bill of Rights",...just another example of "compelling State interests" conjured to enhance the police powers of the State.

It does not seem to matter that such dwellings are citizens' homes. One can always put such for as one's defense or cause of action, but don't bank on it. You'll be shot dead in the name of police action - in your home, even if you could have proven that you were not a criminal/terorist.

[R. Scott]

if there were probable cause to search my house, then yes. if not, there's always litigation. i am one who thinks the authorities should be able to fight crime without the permission of the ACLU.

Yes – if along with the probable cause (and not necessarily “a confidential informant, well known to the officer”) there is a search warrant. I am not a great backer of the ACLU, but I do believe that Our Constitution should be the Law of the Land, and I do not believe that any persons – including law enforcement personnel – should be exempt from that law.