WATER police have been patrolling the mouth of the Patterson River at Carrum on a daily basis over the summer holiday period in a major crackdown on jet-ski activity and boating safety.
Jet-skiers have become the focus of increasing resentment among beachgoers across Port Phillip Bay and Patterson River is one of the most popular launching spots.
Swimmers and jet skiers were out in force over the Australia Day long weekend, however water police officers said no serious incidents were reported.
Acting Senior Sergeant Alistair Nisbet said water police had received numerous complaints in recent times about dangerous, or often just plain annoying, behaviour by jet-ski operators.
“Beachgoers in general don’t like them and don’t want them there,” he said. “They’re noisy and swimmers tend to feel threatened when they’re around, even when they are abiding by the rules. We have received a large number of complaints from the Carrum – or Patterson River – area about personal watercraft so it has been a focus of attention for us and we’ll continue to monitor behaviours to make sure safety rules are followed.”
Apart from noise and ‘hooning’, the majority of complaints concerned jet-skiers operating too close to the shore, other vessels or swimmers.
Water police have been conducting a major boating safety and compliance operation over the holiday period which has been targeting general water safety, operator licences and boat registrations, in addition to the crackdown on jet ski operators.
Operation Colossus has also involved the deployment of plain clothes officers on the foreshore who are able to observe the behaviour of boat and personal watercraft operators and reporting any dangerous behaviour to water police vessels.
