More than 72 million Americans participated in recreational boats in 2003 in the approximately 17 million recreational boats in the United States. For many Americans, the investment in their boat comes alongside their homes and cars. However, unlike homes and cars, most boat owners only spend a fraction of their time on their boat, creating some areas of serious concern; theft and damage reports.
Theft and vandalism are crimes of opportunity. Criminals know that boats are often left unattended for long periods of time, making them an easy target for theft and vandalism. Imagine showing up on your boat on a beautiful Saturday morning waiting for a great day out on the water only to discover that all of the possession you stored on your boat was stolen or that your boat has suffered serious, criminal or other damage. That beautiful day became ugly very quickly. This is when you realize that, unlike your home or car, your boat is quite vulnerable without you being there to protect it.
Crime prevention is a national crisis for boat owners across the United States. What can boat owners do to alleviate this problem? A neighborhood watch style program would be a great start: Boat owners could practice techniques for observing and reporting malicious activity. However, unlike a neighborhood watch program, concerned citizens cannot knock on the door of their boat to report the theft or stolen property of their boat. They can report it to the local police, but there are some unique challenges with that:
Can local authorities contact you?
If your boat is registered, local authorities will have access to your address, however boat owners do not send a phone number when they register their boats. Herein lies the problem: the police can only contact you in person or by mail and if it is not at your registered address or if that address is too far from your vessel it could take days or weeks for us to contact you, airplane decals.
Over 72 million Americans participated in recreational boating in 2003 on the estimated 17 million recreational boats in the United States. For many Americans, the investment in their vessel ranks along with their homes and automobiles. However, unlike homes and automobiles, most boat owners only spend a fraction of their time on their vessel which creates a few areas of serious concern; burglary and damage reporting.
Burglary and vandalism are crimes of opportunity. Criminals know that boats are frequently left unattended for long periods of time, making them an easy target for burglary and vandalism. Imagine showing up at your boat on a beautiful Saturday morning looking forward to a great day on the water only to find out that all the possession you stored on your vessel were stolen or that your boat has been seriously damaged, criminally or otherwise. That beautiful day just turned ugly very quickly. This is when you realize that, unlike your home or car, your boat is quite vulnerable without you there to protect it.
Crime prevention is a national crisis for boat owners all across the United States. What can boat owners do to alleviate this problem? A neighborhood watch style program would be a great start - fellow boat owners could then practice techniques for observing and reporting malicious activity. Unlike a neighborhood watch program though, concerned citizens can't just knock on your boat door to inform you of theft or stolen property from your vessel. They can report it to local law enforcement, but there are some unique challenges with that:
Can local law enforcement get in contact with you?
If your vessel is registered, the local authorities will have access to your address, however, boat owners do not submit a phone number when registering their vessels. Herein lies the problem: law enforcement can only contact you in person or by mail and if you are not at your registered address or if that address is far away from you vessel, it could take days or weeks for you to be reached.
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