NSW Police MET (Marine Enforcement Team) on patrol from Church Point to Broken Bay. Pictured are senior constables Gerard Hollands on the jet ski with Glenn Winter and Damien Cook performing RBT’s, safety and license checks. Picture: Jonathan Ng

NSW POLICE are cracking down on “hooning” under tough new laws designed to keep our waterways safe.

Dozens of officers have taken to the water over the summer holidays to conduct high-visibility patrols, random breath tests and vessel compliance inspections.

The new laws give police the power to confiscate any watercraft from a person operating it in a dangerous, intimidating or threatening way or with excessive speed.

A jetski rider allegedly caught “hooning” around Botany Bay has become the first in NSW to have their watercraft confiscated by police under the tough new legislation.

Police say the driver used the craft to intimidate another person and was charged with “menacing riding” earlier this month.

The case is now before the courts.

The crackdown follows the deaths of a man on a jet ski in the same region last year and a woman who died in another incident near Forster.

NSW Police Marine Area Commander Detective Superintendent Mark Hutchings told the Daily Telegraph it was the first time officers had confiscated a vessel after the tough new “hoon” legislation came into effect late last year.

“We will be alleging that the driver of a jet ski used that jet ski to intimidate a person,” Det Supt Hutchings said.

“We have confiscated that person’s ski under the new legislation and the matter is before the court.”

Det Supt Hutchings said fatalities had been reduced by half over the last three years with officers currently experiencing overall good compliance from the boating and rock fishing communities.

Click here for the full article on the Daily Telegraph