Back in Mid July I lost 3 expensive pots along Ruston Way in Tacoma. They were well weighted in 100 ft of water with 150ft of line and two bed/white buoys on each one. After a lot of cursing about pot thieves I bought 3 new pots.

Wednesday my dad put four pots in to fish. Same scenario as before. Three of the four were missing. I went out to look for him (he is 79) and I couldn't find them either. As I was searching for the pots a boat that was anchored nearby told me that the Tacoma Police Department had been out earlier pulling pots and that they took over a dozen pots.

I was able to find the patrol boat and talked with one of the four officers on board. He said that the pots were confiscated because they were improperly labeled. They had names, city and state on them but lacked a complete street address. So they took them and sent them to the property room of the Peirce County Sherriff as lost property to be auctioned off after 60 days if unclaimed. So beware, if you are crabbing in Tacoma make sure you have complete addresses on your pots. If you have lost pots you might want to contact the Tacoma City Police

Now it really gets interesting. I must admit I was a little pissed that the City of Tacoma is using a $200k boat and four officers to look for Crab Pots that are improperly labeled. Hard to believe they don't have something better to do.

To make a long story short I ended up witnessing a verbal altercation that took place on my cell phone between the property manager for Pierce County and the Officer that confiscated the pots.
Her point to the officer was that the County was storing the pots as a favor to the city and that the officer needed to do a better job filling out paperwork and following proper procedures and that if the Tacoma City Police couldn't do that, then the County would stop storing property for the City.

The officer stated that if the county was going to be so uptight about paperwork that the patrol officers were going to start throwing confiscated pots in the dumpster instead of making allowances for their return

I got a major run around. I have been to four different locations talked with a half a dozen people and I still am not sure how I am going to get my pots back. I will try again today.

I was wrong. My pots were not labeled according to the reg, but this is rediculous.

It's my understanding the a homeland security grant paid for the Vigilance.
I'll bet your feeling quite secure about now.
I hope you get your traps back!

You can thank Bush and his misguided, answer to 911, the inept Home Land Security Department..what a joke, just like bush.

This is a couple of a-holes that should find something more useful to do with their time. What a joke. Our hard earned tax ollars put to good use again. What they should really be doing is hiding behind the 30mph to 25mph change sign and giving tickets for 31. Then they would be protecting the public.

Perhaps you don't like what they are doing with your pots but you can bet it wasn't the patrol officer's idea to be on crab pot patrol. I have met the guys who work on that boat and I can tell you that they are good guys and avid fishermen. A good rule of thumb, whether you are right or wrong is to treat them with the same courtesy that you would expect to be treated with.
Next point,
Label your gear properly and you'll only have thieves to deal with.
Beeeeeeeeeee

I thought that was out of the Police Departments jursidiction, and that was what F&W was paid to do?

you might try calling John Walker, attorney for Tacoma Police. i dont have a direct number, but call the city and they can put you in touch.

you may also want to put a claim in with Risk Management of the city.

wonder what they did with the crab ?

The boat cops probably have to log so many man hours on the boat to show the feds to justify the grant from Homeland Security. Show results of water patrols or give the money back deal, which is typical of fed grants. This the same as the so-called war on drugs which is why people get popped for having a single joint in their pocket, for example.
When I worked for the Wash. Game Dept. many years ago, it almost cost more to track the hours worked on the project the grant was for than the amount of work on the project on the ground. The bios really got frustrated at times with the record keeping when they could be in the field doing something wothwhile for the resource.
If the feds don't get the numbers they want, then the grant may have to be repaid. Killerbeee is probably correct and the cops were probably embarrassed to being doing what they were doing.

You got your pots confiscated for not having th complete address on it.

They get there ass chewed out for not having their paperwork filled out right and they get pissy about it........go figure.

Update. The Property room won't release them without the officers OK and the officer is on vacation until after the Holiday. Dozens of manhours wasted.

Too bad their badges weren't confiscated.

Tie a 400 lb. weight to the end of a crab pot bouy and video them trying to pull it up!

These guys harrass everyone they can out there with their vessel inspections, fishing equipment checks, running around wasting gas. The tribal pots can sit out there for weeks unattended, but you have a minor label violation on a sport pot and they confiscate the pot. Asking where the crab went is a good question. If they wanted to do this properly they would check people when they are pulling their pots and issue a citation - if it is warranted. By confiscating the pots when nobody is around, who's going to notice if the crab slip into a cooler?

WDFW should never have granted them jurisdiction over fish and game violations. Vessel inspections should be done by the coast guard. Tacoma police should be on the streets and inside the city limits doing their job. Total waste of money in the name of homeland security. What a joke.

We need them on stolen kicker patrol ;-)

Hummm what a novel concept, perhaps the TPD needs a new job description.

You have your head up your butt if you think a president gets involved how the money is spent. Probably a congressman wanted s o m e cash for his district and it was divided up in the bill. Like Homeland security doesnt have any pork in it. The chairman of Appropriations is often too powerful for the good of the country. Thats how guys like Ted Stevens get bridges slid into the spending. I dont care which party is running the show. Where have we been bombed in North America since 9-11? Thanks to some sharp lady in Northern Washington, LAX is in one piece. It will be way too long before the rest of the cases are declassified.

WDFW didnt grant them jurisdiction. Your WASHINGTON STATE LEGISLATURE did!!

LB, you need to learn how to read, I didn't say the President had anything to do with how the money was spent, you must have your head in the same place as he does.....

Its nice to know, that there are not a bunch of crab pot thiefs down in that area.

However the actions of some possibly overzelous police officers pisses me off. Its bad enought that while out attempting to relaax and possibly catch a salmon or crab. You have to contend with the young kids and their 50 cal machine guns from the coast guard. Then you have the State fish cops.

Apparently here in Kitsap County the sheriffs department has got in on the action. A friend of mine recently recieved a ticket because the numbers on boat wern't "tall enough". The numbers were there, the person who issued the ticket said "Its only a 81.00 fine"


Anyway, They (the cities, counties) have realized that the sound is a potential source of revenue. So before you go boating consult the regs and makes sure you have covered your bases.

Update. Got a call from the officer this am. The only way he will release my pots is if I accept a ticket for poaching. Otherwise I have to wait until they go up at auction and buy them back.

I wasn't the one fishing with them.