Wow, as far as I know he had no legal ground to make you do this. Best advice I can give you is to record all conversations with police with audio and/or video. I have heard in some places it's illegal for the public to record the police so please check your local and state laws for information on recording the police and be aware many cops become instant .......s about being recorded even if its perfectly legal for you to do so in your area and will try to make you stop. The worst they can do is arrest you and you can press charges for wrongful arrest if you refuse to turn off your recorder in places where its legal to record cops.
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I would suggest obtaining a disposition from your state's attorney general and attaching it to a formal Letter of Complaint to the PD. What you went through was totally uncalled for, and probably resultant of a man who simply could not say, "Oh, it's a nicotine vaporizer? Carry on, then." The burden does not rest on you to prove the legality of your actions, but upon the Officer in question to prove that your actions were illegal, vis-a-vis habeas corpus.
It sounds like you either ran into an unsupervised rookie; or, some "2 year on the job, early 30's idiot..." (As I've heard them described by several, experienced, friends in LE... My suggestion to anyone who finds him or herself in such a situation is to be as polite as possible; but, to INSIST that a supervisor be called out. Point out that you have NO issues with taking any blood, breath, urine, or hair test for signs of substance abuse; and, that they're invited to bring a drug-sniffing dog out to do a search for any illegal substance and/or for them to test your juice; HOWEVER, your juice is 100% legal; and, if they destroy it / cause you to destroy it, that you'll take all legal measures to stand up for your rights... The trick is to be both polite and insistant at the same time. If they want to cuff you in the meantime, offer no resistance; and, be as pleasant about it as possible. If they refuse to call a supervisor out, you might have to go along with the dumping; but, as soon as you're away from the scene, go the the PD or SO; and, report the incident to the Chief or Sheriff. If they won't do anything, go to Internal Affairs for that agency and ask to file a complaint. If that doesn't work, you'll probably have to try to find a lawyer (NOT easy in such cases); but, part of the reason that things have gotten as bad as they have is that folks have gone along with it without saying anything. It's a sad reality that there are a lot of folks on the job who have NO business what-so-ever being in law enforcement.
There are no family-friendly words for that cop or for what he pulled. He was completely in the wrong, and while I can fully understand and appreciate that you had things you would rather have been doing, I would have gone through the whole process. Refused to comply with an unlawful order, been cited, even been arrested, forced it all the way to and through a trial, then sued the P.D. bare and bald. As a freelance writer whose income-to-expense flow is entirely automated, I could take as much time as I like to go through every step necessary to shame a guy like that so hard all that would be left of his reputation would be a mud-coated crater in the sidewalk.
Sounds like this cop was a fool. It almost sounds like he might have something against PVs directly. If he thought it was something illegal he could not take you in after the evidence was dumped at his command. If he was just a stupid bully he still screwed himself. No matter how you cut it this cop was wrong on all counts, you have nothing to worry about.
I know you we're scared and upset, but if this or anything like it happens in the future get the badge number. Call it in from a pay phone and give your complaint. Not all cops are as bad as this one, and there are many who would not put up with this guys crap. After all every time a cop acts like this it only makes it harder for the good ones to do their jobs. You have a right to protect yourself from harassment.
I know you we're scared and upset, but if this or anything like it happens in the future get the badge number. Call it in from a pay phone and give your complaint. Not all cops are as bad as this one, and there are many who would not put up with this guys crap. After all every time a cop acts like this it only makes it harder for the good ones to do their jobs. You have a right to protect yourself from harassment.
Folks "letting it slide" when it happens is a big part of why things just keep getting worse!!! Just because something's a right doesn't mean that it doesn't have to be jealously guarded and defended. Power corrupts; and, absolute power corrupts absolutely is more than just a cliche - it's a statement of reality!!! More often than not, liberty doesn't disappear overnight; it's slowly chipped away. Kind of like "boiling a frog." If you try to put a frog in a pot of hot water, it leaps out of the pot; BUT, if you put a frog into a pot of tepid water and very slowly turn up the heat, the frog is too far gone to do anything about it by the time it realizes it's in trouble. (Personally, I'd NEVER do this to a frog; but, it's been done by others enough times to be a valid analogy...) I'd better stop here; since, there are SO many examples of our rights being eroded in this manner that I'm at a serious risk of going WAY off topic and onto several of my many soapboxes...
If there's any possibility that a police impersonator is trying to pull you over, it IS "an emergency"!!! While some are just "game players" (who may; or, may NOT be - comparatively speaking - "harmless"), it's just as likely that such a person is a robber or a ......... In such a situation, do NOT pull over! If you can't be driving to a PD or SO, at least drive to a busy, well-lit place. (Back to the front of the WalMart?) In the meantime, be on the phone to 911; and, asking that a uniformed supervisor be enroute... If you're still nervous about being considered to be fleeing, know that this is typically the advice that police public information officers typically give in new broadcasts when there have been reports of police impersonators in an area. Something else I've heard suggested is to ask the dispatcher to identify the unit in question and to call him ON HIS CELL PHONE (some impersonators carry scanners!) ; and, tell the officer to flash his headlights a specific number of times and/or in a specific sequence, to prove that he's actually in contact with dispatch.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke quotes
It's been awhile since I've been to this part of the forum. And sorry guys but I didn't read through the 26 pages of this thread.
Maybe someone else has already said this..but here it is anyways.
To the OP: Vaping is still completely legal. Yeah there are now more and more Ecig mods that do not look anything like a cigarette.
Just try and understand from an officer point of view. If the cops don't know what you're smoking/vaping then just out of legal curioustiy they would want to know whats going on.
But to make you dump out your Ejuice...man you have rights and your rights were violated. You were carrying a legal substance (nicotine eliquid), and if an officer wanted me to dump it out I would've said no.
Yeah, I would get more grief from the man in uniform. But they have drug test abilities on the spot. So tell the cops to test the liquid. Throw every test at it...It's not gonna turn blue for cr@ck. You will only find nicotine in there and there is nothing you can do about it.
Doing something that may 'look' illegal to a cop is not a crime.
Remember, an officer of the law has every right to question you, and give you a sobriety test (if you're driving). But they do not have the right to make you stop if it's not illegal. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.
Maybe someone else has already said this..but here it is anyways.
To the OP: Vaping is still completely legal. Yeah there are now more and more Ecig mods that do not look anything like a cigarette.
Just try and understand from an officer point of view. If the cops don't know what you're smoking/vaping then just out of legal curioustiy they would want to know whats going on.
But to make you dump out your Ejuice...man you have rights and your rights were violated. You were carrying a legal substance (nicotine eliquid), and if an officer wanted me to dump it out I would've said no.
Yeah, I would get more grief from the man in uniform. But they have drug test abilities on the spot. So tell the cops to test the liquid. Throw every test at it...It's not gonna turn blue for cr@ck. You will only find nicotine in there and there is nothing you can do about it.
Doing something that may 'look' illegal to a cop is not a crime.
Remember, an officer of the law has every right to question you, and give you a sobriety test (if you're driving). But they do not have the right to make you stop if it's not illegal. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS.
Perhaps he caught his wife with a Vamo or ProVari and assumed the worst...
Well judging by this he's probably compensating for something......
I hate to stand up for the jerk cop, BUT there are idiots who find ways to use drugs using PV s. Its rare, but it happens.
I'm sorry to hear that. Some police are just like that. Luckily, they don't mess with you about it here. In fact a security guard came up to me the other day and I thought she was going to get on to me about me ecig.. She pulled hers out and we started talking about flavors
Just stay positive and keep your head up. It probably won't happen again, he was just a jerk. To be safe, carry labeled juice next time.
Cheer up.
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