Law Enforcement

[AaronJasper]

a few weeks back there were 7 people without drivers and fishing licenses fishing with bait in the fly fishing only, Catch and release area on the housatoninc. they had almost 100 fish between the lot. we called dep and the co came down. the co issued only one ticket to these people and the other officer clearly coult not wait to get out of there. what gives?? one ticket?? if this was any of us we would have been hammered. to even make it worse he let them keep the fish? what a joke! why do we have laws there anyway?? this was a disgrace. who is there to address this problem too?

[FK]

I suggest we take digital photos of the offenders and send them to the DEP in Hartford, Western District HQ in Harwinton, newspapers and any blog that will publish the information. In addition, get the CO name or badge number and publish that information also. Publicity and embarasing photos may prod the state to enforce the existing laws. I wonder if is illegal to have some hats and shirts in dark blue with "I support ICE" logos.

Regards,
FK

[Troutbum from Griswold]

Just reading about this really PISSED ME OFF! These are the state's defenders for conservation? You have 7 people all without licenses both fishing and drivers. Using spin gear in the Fly Only area and have 100 FISH!!!! Are you @#$$% kidding me! One ticket between all of them to boot! Absolutely crazy. All of them should have had their equipment taken away, fish taken away, and fined to the greatest extent. Plus, arrested if possible under the law. That was no mistake in any way, shape, or form. No excuse. I agree Aaron, a complaint to the main office is in order. To bad you didn't get names or badge numbers. >

[AaronJasper]

well i am pretty sure that hro knows who the officer is and i would be glad to send in a complaint. as we all know my writing isnt so good ;D if any of you would like to help me write a complaint i would be more than happy to put my name on it. what good are rules and laws if no one is going to do anything to the people who break them?? the dep of connecticut should be embarrassed!!! also i know that they called the tip line and they didnt send anyone to investigate the problem. i know for a fact that one of the officers in the area spends almost all of hit time watching a certain bass pond in the area. i guess that its his private little pond. the housy has been a virtual free for all this year with all of the poaching and illegal fishing practices. i have nothing against spin fisherman.... just do it where you are allowed. maybe hro can chime in on this one. it is a serious problem when we pay money for our licenses and the people whose jobs we pay for do nothing to ensure that our resources are properly policed.

[Defeatist]

Hey guys,
I feel your pain, and I see this from fellow Law enforcement employees. I am not defending or condoning what happened, but from what I know of the situation, when fellow Law enforcement officers deal with people who have a language barrier, and no real positive identification it becomes rather troublesome. more often than not, those people never go to court and dont pay their fines, and trackin them down is a pain in the neck. The really sad thing is Law Enforcement in general is an understaffed profession across the board and their are many other situations that take precedence to people poaching fish. As much as it is hard to swallow, its the truth. That being said the only way that we can get these things changed is to write to your representatives and make your complaints be heard. I dont know exactly what happened, I wasnt there and I know how stories can change from one person to the next. If 1/2 of what I heard is 1/2 true than things were definately mishandled. The other side of the coin is, a bad action taken by one represents all. If those of you who were there can verify these allegations, then I would make some noise.

[Mike.K]

Many good arguments here, but its very easy to monday morning quarterback the decisions of others especially a police officers decisions. I work in the field of conservation law enforcement, but on the Federal side and agree that more stringent enforcement should have been taken against these individuals, but considering that I dont know all the facts and circumstances presented to the officer at the time of the contact, I will not sit here and judge his decisions. Do any of us really know what happened at the scene? As Rich stated, this may have been one of those situations involving a language barrier and possibly more. In fact, it is very possible that the officers hands were tied considering that the courts and prosecutors generally dictate a great deal of what they want to see in their courts and the types of cases they will hear, consequently this has a great impact on an officers actions in the field. I am sure this officer had reason for his enforcement action. Lets not be so quick to judge until you have filled his shoes. I understand we would all like to see promt justice with all these poaching incidents, but unfortunately it doesnt always work according to what we feel should happen and what our ideas of justice are.

[AaronJasper]

so its ok for certain people to break the laws? the facts were as follows
6 people no fishing licenses
5 no positive id
bait in a fly only stretch
spin fishing in a fly only stretch
100+ fish illegally harvested
even if half were bass they are still illegally harvested.
1 77 dollar ticket???
and they were allowed to take the fish home???
sounds like someone does not want to do their job?
if this happened at mudge pond the guy would have locked them up

and yes i was there!!!!

[beadhead]

I don't know the protocal when someone dosen't have proper I.D., but how would you write them a ticket? I work in Vineland N.J. with alot of fellow workers that speak our new second language, most, not all know when to forget the English that they do know, when they do something wrong. Maybe some of the C.O.s can address how you would ticket someone in the field when they don't know your language and don't have I.D.? Allowing them to keep the fish, I don't see how that could have happened though.

[Mike.K]

From what I understand from talking to CO's in CT, in the past they would bond people on the spot, this means they would coolect money for the fine on site. This is if the ID was poor or they thought the suspects would not pay the fines. I dont know if they practice this anymore. Like I said, sounds like the enforcement action was on the light side, no disagreement there.

[AaronJasper]

yeah marshall law. i am sure that we can figure out many deterrants for their behavior!