Was it my imagination or were there an inordinate number of police out and about Kitsap County hunting prey over this past holiday weekend?

Everywhere I went, there were Sheriff’s deputies, Port Orchard and Bremerton police, and Washington State Patrol officers hiding around corners and behind bushes with their radar guns, etc., looking for any infraction that could justify pulling folks over.

I was pulled over myself and let go when my documents checked out, so I suspect they were really looking for drivers who had been drinking or otherwise.

In any case, I have to ask myself, is this the way we want to live, with police scrutinizing every move we make as we buzz about our neighborhoods performing our daily business?

Are our roads so dangerous that we can justify having so high a police presence with marked and unmarked vehicles virtually around every corner?

I think not.

As a former federal law enforcement officer myself, I’m appalled at police presence in and around our South Kitsap towns (I can’t speak for the others).

I also do not understand the officious nature by which they perform their duties. I’ve been through the federal law enforcement training center, and at that time there was no curriculum that taught how to speak in such a booming voice that Zeus would feel intimidated.

Nor were we required to talk to people like we were robots or stick out our chests as if we were attempting to prove we’re akin to Mr. Universe.

I could be wrong, but I doubt that is part of the training our local police go through these days, either.

When I was in law enforcement, one of the things I heard that really didn’t sit well with me was comments similar to, “You work for me.”

While it wasn’t quite accurate, it is true that the police work for the citizens. The citizens love them when they need them, but let’s face it, we don’t need them that much. And when they have too much time on their hands, they prey upon us.

I’ve lived in Kitsap county for two years now, having moved from Seattle, and I’m amazed at the number of police in South Kitsap.

You can’t go anywhere without seeing them. Why so many, I ask myself. Do we really need to monitor our driving habits so closely, or is this just another revenue stream our local governments cannot deny themselves?

The experience for me did not stop at the shoreline this weekend. I took my 13-year-old daughter and her friend out for a boat ride around the harbor between Port Orchard and the shipyard at about 4 p.m. on Saturday, and I crossed over from Port Orchard Marina where I moor my boat at a slow 7 knots.

The girls sat out on the front of the boat waving to passing boats. As we approached Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the shipyard police boat approached us and over the loud hailer, told us repeatedly to turn away from the shipyard.

I was well outside of restricted waters, but since that was not our destination, I complied anyway.

Unfortunately the police boat continued to harass us, telling me to turn away. Since I was already turned away, I continued on my eastward course toward downtown Bremerton. Within moments one of the officers came out of the cabin and manned the machine gun on board their boat.

This was obviously distressing to my daughter and her friend, and they came diving into the cabin through the front hatch of our boat. Once they were secured I accelerated to about 45 mph and the police boat chased after us until we were past Bremerton.

I cannot explain this unacceptable show of force, especially in light of the fact there were children on board. I was in freely navigable waters and had complied with the demand to turn away from the shipyard.

I have been by the shipyard many times before and have never had an interaction of this nature. I cannot say it’s unprecedented, but it happened, and may very well happen to other boaters as well.

I’ve heard the arguments that if you’re not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about, but apparently this is not always the case.

I’m a middle-aged family man who obeys the laws of my community as precisely as anyone can. I am by no means a threat to anyone or any institution. If I can experience these events in a single weekend, what happens to other folks?

In my opinion, and as a taxpayer, we need not more but fewer attentive police who are looking to protect the citizens, not victimize them to fend off boredom or to generate revenue.

The citizens of Kitsap County need to make it known that they have the power to put an end to the police predation that is occurring. Communities hire police forces to protect themselves, not turn against them.

As a former law enforcement officer, what I’m seeing occurring here is not what should be occurring.

Folks need to take notice.