People blame the police, for enforcing laws that should have never passed any type of serious constitutional debate in the first place.
The blame is with our court system, where it has become cheaper to plead gulity, and pay a fine for something you didn't do, or that constitutes, or is the result of, an improper action by the state, than to fight it through the court system, and win.
This is well stated and I wanted to add to it. I've worked as a police officer for 20 years. My last 4 years I have worked in our special operations unit, mostly with fugitive operations and large scale event security planning. However our marine unit falls under the special operations umbrella (our county is located on the shores of Lake Ontario) so I've had the opportunity to work on our boats a few times as an overtime fill in. I am in no way marine law enforcement expert but I've seen it done up close.
I get it, there are cops who are dicks, they enjoy yelling at people and asserting their authority. They are by far the minority. Most cops just want to go along to get along. When people are polite, they are polite right back. But if someone chooses a different path, trust me, it will be met with the full fury of the law. It's simple human nature.
I assure you that if I follow you in your car or boat for long enough I'll find a violation. The law book on my desk of penal and vehicle and traffic law is over 1000 pages. Hell, you'll find violations on my car or when I'm driving. Sometimes you get stopped, sometimes you don't. We can't catch everyone and when it's you, unfortunately you caught a bad break. That doesn't change the fact that you were in violation. Ticketing you does not absolve all the others who got away with the same thing. Like I said, we can't catch everyone, every time.
I don't know the specifics of this case but trust me, there is more to it. Now personally I agree with a lot of people who are asserting their constitutional rights regarding live aboards or the meat and potatoes of warrantless searches. Unfortunately, as stated above, we merely enforce the laws, good or bad. If you want to be angry contact your legislator. We merely use the laws we are told to work with to complete our mission.
Many people purport to know the law. This is a dangerous game. The real estate lawyer who thinks he knows search and seizure inside and out has a good chance of losing against a street cop who uses it everyday. Conversely, the street cop arguing the finer points of lot lines with a real estate attorney is probably going to be wrong.
It's already been stated here with someone inferring that police need a search warrant to search your car. I don't know the laws in every state, but here in NY we have something called the automobile exception. If we suspect criminality we can conduct a limited search of a vehicle without consent and without a warrant. You can not like it, maybe I don't like it as a civilian, but it is fact the law. Now we can have a conversation about what criminality is and how I articulate my suspicions but it is the law none the less. In the moment the police are going to win.
Sometimes I use a specific analogy when people, just like on trawler forum, are complaining about the yahoo's operating boats out on the water and what a menace and threat they are. They want the cops to do something but they don't want it to impact them. So the analogy being when people in a neighborhood are complaining about the damn cars speeding up and down the road. They demand the police do something so we start flooding the area with traffic cops. The cops pull over cars, and I've literally had this said to me when I explained why I was out there stopping cars, "well yeah but don't stop me, I live here, it's everyone else!"
No doubt about it, police get it wrong sometimes. They are human, they may be having a bad day just like you do sometimes. They may have only seen a piece of something and not the totality, but law enforcement is based on perception. Perception is reality to the observer. The courts determine facts.
You have to understand that it is not personal. You may feel like your being treated like a "criminal" and nothing could be further from the truth. The cop does not know you, the cop has fought and been hurt by people who look, act and dress just like you. There is no criminal "type". The bad guys don't wear stripped jumpers and masks carrying a sack with dollar signs on them. The cop does not know you and does not know your intentions. They always assume the worst because that is the safest way to police. They operate on procedures that give them the best chance for everyone to remain safe and unhurt. Sometimes those procedures can be a bit offensive to the law abiding person. Again it's not personal, Do your best to understand their perspective. Stand where they want you to stand, be calm, follow instructions.
Just be careful of your belief that you "know your rights" because you heard something from a guy at the dock or in the bar. There are many that resent authority or the fact that limits are placed on their behavior. I'll never win those people over. However, a rational person knows that there are rules we must all live by. There is a time and a place to argue and that is not in the moment you are interacting with the cop. You can request a supervisor after its over, you can address it in court if not resolved with the supervisor.
Be calm, be polite, be respectful and watch how easy your interactions with law enforcement go. Even if the cop got it wrong, and you're frustrated. Cooperation goes along way to bringing any situation to an agreeable end to all parties involved.
my 2 cents.
But then again you still might be right if you think SCOTUS comic book 
