To quote one of my old Sergeants, " I would rather have a sister in the ***** house than a brother that was a game warden". That being said I am a retired after 30 years LEO and have seen numerous situations that could have been handled better. On the scene the Officer was / is in charge. I really doubt he was ever going to issue a ticket. If he was one would have been issued. I suspect he was probably just there to keep the peace since one ramp was closed, and frequently when people/boaters can not do what they want when they want they turn into d***s. So they yell at each other and sometimes take a swing or something else stupid. Should the Officer have stopped your friend? Yep he should have, and he should have also told him what he did wrong. Should you have gotten involved? Probably not. You did not have an interest in your friends actions, you wanted to insert your influence, but you were not part of the stop. Trying to be a good friend? Absolutely! Is there a time and a place? Absolutely! Are some Cops D***s? Absolutely!
I have told hundreds of my Officers that they can not start out as an A-hole. If you start out that way you can never go back to being a nice guy. You can start out as a nice guy and then turn into an A-hole because the situation requires you become a hard Azz, and then go back to being a nice guy though. I have been stopped twice by the same wildlife Officers in a 10 minute time span for a safety inspection. The first time OK, the second here is what you are looking for ya'll are being d***s. In NC they are pressured to produce fines, which add to revenue. Thankfully most offenses just became infractions which carry only a $50.00 fine, as opposed to nearly $300.00 before the change. Not much revenue in $50.00 fines. As I said they are/were pressured to produce, hopefully that will change.
I am very glad that your friend only got a warning, that you did not get in any trouble, and that everyone got out of there safe. I don't like being told what to do nor does pretty much anyone else, but it sounds like that was that Officers job that day.
