Was stopped by a cop today while vaping.

[Spidey2011]

I will add this as well:

First, keep in mind vaping is still new, and as someone pointed out, a counter culture meaning, many people don't understand it, and some don't even know what it is, police included. Now I can tell you in my particular department, many of us vape; however that does not transfer to every single police officer within the country, especially given again, this technology still being new and secondly, given that some devices are already produced for things other than nicotine.

Now for those in this thread who have taken time to educate those officers, I really do applaud you. I can tell you as an officer although our ...... as someone earlier so eloquently put it is to "serve and protect", my job also requires to be curious and watch for suspicious out of place behavior. Lets be honest, fogging up your car is typically synonymous with another type of behavior. Bear in mind that reasonable suspicion, not probable cause, which is a higher level of suspicion, is all that is needed for an officer to question you about such behavior. Realistically, if you explain to that officer what it is, and what it does, that will quell that curiosity. Now I cant't sit here and tell you that every officer is a good officer, I can tell you that about 99% of us are. I can tell you that most stories on the news that try and paint an officer as a thug and invincible are wrong and typically have other circumstances that are not revealed because it wouldn't make for good news.

My biggest pet peeve when I see threads like this pop up are this, first as an officer, I truly feel aliened from a community I enjoy because of the amount of ignorance that is displayed for my profession. Second, I have a hard time recommending fellow officers to this forum to help them when they are ready to quit analogs when I observe the amount of anti police sentiment stated in threads like these.

What bothers me most is many seem to be ok with alienating the e cig community from the police, when really, just like a normal citizen you should be helping educate because if you really believed in furthering the cause that would be your ultimate goal. I can tell you as someone who has worked in many realms of public service, firefighting, police, corrections, and EMS, there are alot of smokers. You would be surprised at the amount of those public service individuals who would actually welcome a conversation about vaping because they have tried everything to quit cigs as well.

To all those who would criticize my profession, I would challenge you this, go down to your local department, and go on a ride along, try it for a couple of shifts. Take a walk in my boots. You might be surprised at how much you do not know, or understand about police officers.

Big surprise, a cop that says 99% of cops are good and all those stories on the news and videos of corruption and cops beating and raping people is blown out of proportion. Ha! Typical.

I won't deny there are good cops. Most of the department in the town I currently live in is pretty good. More interested in actually protecting citizens and keeping the community safe, rather than going on a power trip or revenue generating. The last town I lived in though, the entire department was corrupt. Drugs, prostitution, you name it.

I've had A LOT of dealings with law enforcement. While a few of them have been positive, the majority have not.

So let me ask you this, officer friendly, if you knew of a fellow officer that was breaking the law, would you arrest him? At least report him to IA?

As far as reasonable articulate suspicion goes, smoke in a car is not enough. There are plenty of perfectly legal substances that can do that. Just because I COULD be doing something illegal, doesn't mean you can assume I am. It's just like if I were open carrying. My gun could be stolen, or I could be a felon. But the simple act of carrying does not give you the appropriate RAS to stop me. You need a refresher course in the law.

 

[Spidey2011]

I've got cops in the family, and my husband's best friend is with the NYPD. I know that I personally would not, or could not, do the job that they (and you) do, for the pay that they (and you) get paid and the amount of BS that you all put up with. I have had negative experiences with police officers and positive experiences with police officers, just like I've had negative and positive experiences with any other kind of human. I think that sometimes people view cops as some kind of alien species that they don't "get", as opposed to realizing that cops are human beings just like anyone else. Some are jerks, because some PEOPLE are jerks. Most are just doing their job, and they don't possess magical mind-reading powers or superhuman senses. They're trying to do their job with the normal senses, reactions, and knowledge base that most of the rest of us have to work with. Except, if I read someone's body language wrong or misjudge a situation in my daily life, probably the worst thing that could happen is I look stupid and feel embarrassed, but if a cop does the same it could end up getting them seriously hurt or dead. And while it might be annoying for a carload of vapers to feel like they were being hassled to be questioned about what they were doing…how much worse would it be for that car that looks like it's carrying a fog machine in the backseat to be full of people doing something else and not get questioned about it, and drive off and crash into a school bus?

It would suck for any police officer to feel alienated from vaping, or like they wouldn't be welcome in a community like this. That shouldn't be what it is about. Vaping is not illegal, educating anyone who wants to learn about it including police officers (even if they're suspicious about it at first because they DON'T know what it is) is one of the ways that we help it continue to be something legitimate that we can all enjoy. Acting like it's something shady that we have to be defensive about is just going to make it seem more suspicious and will bite vapers in the rear in the long run.

BS. Even small town officers make bank. Here they're getting 60k a year to start. I have a pretty good job and only made 45k last year, with a lot of overtime.

 

[Spidey2011]

Bottom line is respect begets respect, if I'm not doing anything illegal, I have nothing to hide. If a police officer asks to speak with me and ask me what I'm doing, by all means, I'm going to explain what I have and how it works. And I will use ma'am and sir in that conversation!!

His job is to find what you're doing that is illegal. And trust me, there are so many laws that you don't know if you're breaking one or not. Best to know and exercise your rights in a situation like this.

 

[Robino1]

Whoa, thread is taking a decided turn...and not really for the better.

Time to back it down a notch.

 

[Raguvian]

I will add this as well:

First, keep in mind vaping is still new, and as someone pointed out, a counter culture meaning, many people don't understand it, and some don't even know what it is, police included. Now I can tell you in my particular department, many of us vape; however that does not transfer to every single police officer within the country, especially given again, this technology still being new and secondly, given that some devices are already produced for things other than nicotine.

Now for those in this thread who have taken time to educate those officers, I really do applaud you. I can tell you as an officer although our ...... as someone earlier so eloquently put it is to "serve and protect", my job also requires to be curious and watch for suspicious out of place behavior. Lets be honest, fogging up your car is typically synonymous with another type of behavior. Bear in mind that reasonable suspicion, not probable cause, which is a higher level of suspicion, is all that is needed for an officer to question you about such behavior. Realistically, if you explain to that officer what it is, and what it does, that will quell that curiosity. Now I cant't sit here and tell you that every officer is a good officer, I can tell you that about 99% of us are. I can tell you that most stories on the news that try and paint an officer as a thug and invincible are wrong and typically have other circumstances that are not revealed because it wouldn't make for good news.

My biggest pet peeve when I see threads like this pop up are this, first as an officer, I truly feel aliened from a community I enjoy because of the amount of ignorance that is displayed for my profession. Second, I have a hard time recommending fellow officers to this forum to help them when they are ready to quit analogs when I observe the amount of anti police sentiment stated in threads like these.

What bothers me most is many seem to be ok with alienating the e cig community from the police, when really, just like a normal citizen you should be helping educate because if you really believed in furthering the cause that would be your ultimate goal. I can tell you as someone who has worked in many realms of public service, firefighting, police, corrections, and EMS, there are alot of smokers. You would be surprised at the amount of those public service individuals who would actually welcome a conversation about vaping because they have tried everything to quit cigs as well.

To all those who would criticize my profession, I would challenge you this, go down to your local department, and go on a ride along, try it for a couple of shifts. Take a walk in my boots. You might be surprised at how much you do not know, or understand about police officers.

I definitely didn't start this thread to start cop bashing. I just thought it was an interesting occurrence. For what it's worth, that officer was the nicest officer I've ever dealt with and I wasn't mad or offended to have been stopped. The main reason I said I'd be vaping more discretely in the open is because I've had some not so good situations with the police, and so the less I can be noticed by cops, the better IMO. That being said, if another cop approached me about vaping with the same attitude as the first officer, I'd be more than happy to explain to them what vaping is (and even let them try my devices if they really wanted to). It's just that a lot of officers seem to think "guilty until proven innocent" and approach everything from a hostile point of view.

I definitely think the majority of officers are nice, but there are some bad ones out there that make the public wary of the police in general. It just comes with the territory. It's probably one of the most stressful jobs out there but the power does go to peoples' heads and that's where the problems are.

 

[Dyanne]

Big surprise, a cop that says 99% of cops are good and all those stories on the news and videos of corruption and cops beating and raping people is blown out of proportion. Ha! Typical.

I won't deny there are good cops. Most of the department in the town I currently live in is pretty good. More interested in actually protecting citizens and keeping the community safe, rather than going on a power trip or revenue generating. The last town I lived in though, the entire department was corrupt. Drugs, prostitution, you name it.

I've had A LOT of dealings with law enforcement. While a few of them have been positive, the majority have not.

So let me ask you this, officer friendly, if you knew of a fellow officer that was breaking the law, would you arrest him? At least report him to IA?

As far as reasonable articulate suspicion goes, smoke in a car is not enough. There are plenty of perfectly legal substances that can do that. Just because I COULD be doing something illegal, doesn't mean you can assume I am. It's just like if I were open carrying. My gun could be stolen, or I could be a felon. But the simple act of carrying does not give you the appropriate RAS to stop me. You need a refresher course in the law.

if you are not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about ...

 

[Dyanne]

BS. Even small town officers make bank. Here they're getting 60k a year to start. I have a pretty good job and only made 45k last year, with a lot of overtime.

put yourself on the line daily with delusional psychopaths or drug influenced teens and say they do not earn their money. Ridiculous.

 

[ReigntheGamer]

IMHO after all the videos I have seen on the news and other sources of police officers being shot or shot at during a normal traffic stop I can say with 100% certainty I would treat every stop like the person was a threat until I knew otherwise. Giving people the benefit of the doubt in all situations in their line of work may mean they don't go home that night. So I guess I am in the minority when it comes to my understanding of them proceeding with their duties like everyone is guilty until proven innocent. Or more fitting dangerous until proven harmless.

 

[Dyanne]

Big surprise, a cop that says 99% of cops are good and all those stories on the news and videos of corruption and cops beating and raping people is blown out of proportion. Ha! Typical.

I won't deny there are good cops. Most of the department in the town I currently live in is pretty good. More interested in actually protecting citizens and keeping the community safe, rather than going on a power trip or revenue generating. The last town I lived in though, the entire department was corrupt. Drugs, prostitution, you name it.

I've had A LOT of dealings with law enforcement. While a few of them have been positive, the majority have not.

So let me ask you this, officer friendly, if you knew of a fellow officer that was breaking the law, would you arrest him? At least report him to IA?

As far as reasonable articulate suspicion goes, smoke in a car is not enough. There are plenty of perfectly legal substances that can do that. Just because I COULD be doing something illegal, doesn't mean you can assume I am. It's just like if I were open carrying. My gun could be stolen, or I could be a felon. But the simple act of carrying does not give you the appropriate RAS to stop me. You need a refresher course in the law.

why were your experiences with Cops bad? what were you doing when you were apprehended or questioned? I am 44 years old and have been naughty in my earlier years, but I never wondered why a police officer stopped me now or ever, I am confident that any time a police officer apprehends me I have either asked for it, or I look suspicious. That is their job. If you are not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about.

 

[tFOrRESTee]

Oh dang it, I guess I better not vape with this in public, lol.

 

[Spidey2011]

if you are not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about ...

Yet I've been arrested and ticketed multiple times while doing perfectly legal activities and all were proven to have been without cause. Yep. Nothing to worry about...... Lol.

put yourself on the line daily with delusional psychopaths or drug influenced teens and say they do not earn their money. Ridiculous.

Did I say that? I just said don't claim that they don't get paid enough. Imho, public servants should make the average wage for the area they work in. That goes for law enforcement, political leaders, etc. Basically any government employee.

 

[Spidey2011]

IMHO after all the videos I have seen on the news and other sources of police officers being shot or shot at during a normal traffic stop I can say with 100% certainty I would treat every stop like the person was a threat until I knew otherwise. Giving people the benefit of the doubt in all situations in their line of work may mean they don't go home that night. So I guess I am in the minority when it comes to my understanding of them proceeding with their duties like everyone is guilty until proven innocent. Or more fitting dangerous until proven harmless.

Well maybe if they'd stop arresting/ticketing people for victimless crimes, I could see that. But as it stands, I won't put up with being treated like a criminal when I'm doing nothing wrong.

 

[Dyanne]

BS. Even small town officers make bank. Here they're getting 60k a year to start. I have a pretty good job and only made 45k last year, with a lot of overtime.

yeah do you get spat on, kicked, verbally abused all day? just to name 10 minutes of a public servants day?

 

[Spidey2011]

why were your experiences with Cops bad? what were you doing when you were apprehended or questioned? I am 44 years old and have been naughty in my earlier years, but I never wondered why a police officer stopped me now or ever, I am confident that any time a police officer apprehends me I have either asked for it, or I look suspicious. That is their job. If you are not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about.

Well the biggest one was when I was assaulted. When the cops showed up my shoulder was severely dislocated (which resulted in two surgeries to repair the damage and it still isn't right), yet I was charged with negligent endangerment for restraining the guy that put both of us in harms way by climbing onto a moving piece of machinery and trying to pull me off of it.

The others were fairly minor. Disorderly conduct for an incident with the same idiot that dislocated my shoulder, and reckless driving for driving through the ditch to go around someone that was intentionally blocking MY easement. All were eventually dropped, but I had to take time off work and pay an attorney an outrageous amount of money to fight them.

 

[Dyanne]

Yet I've been arrested and ticketed multiple times while doing perfectly legal activities and all were proven to have been without cause. Yep. Nothing to worry about...... Lol.

Did I say that? I just said don't claim that they don't get paid enough. Imho, public servants should make the average wage for the area they work in. That goes for law enforcement, political leaders, etc. Basically any government employee.

they do not get paid ENOUGH!! I would not do their job for 2mil a year. I can say that with all confidence working in other areas of community and public roles. You said you were arrested and ticketed multiple times doing perfectly legal activities all the time proven without cause! Wow Justice prevailed so nothing to worry about.

 

[Spidey2011]

yeah do you get spat on, kicked, verbally abused all day? just to name 10 minutes of a public servants day?

I've been verbally abused and threatened by law enforcement on multiple occasions. It was a daily occurrence where I used to live. Even had one tell me he was gonna "take me down." I told him to go for it. Lol.

 

[Dyanne]

Well the biggest one was when I was assaulted. When the cops showed up my shoulder was severely dislocated (which resulted in two surgeries to repair the damage and it still isn't right), yet I was charged with negligent endangerment for restraining the guy that put both of us in harms way by climbing onto a moving piece of machinery and trying to pull me off of it.

The others were fairly minor. Disorderly conduct for an incident with the same idiot that dislocated my shoulder, and reckless driving for driving through the ditch to go around someone that was intentionally blocking MY easement. All were eventually dropped, but I had to take time off work and pay an attorney an outrageous amount of money to fight them.

you sure do end up in the wrong place at the right time... you would have to be the unluckiest person I have met so far

 

[Spidey2011]

you sure do end up in the wrong place at the right time... you would have to be the unluckiest person I have met so far

Nope. Just had horrible neighbors, compounded by a target on my back for the cops. My dad was on their department but couldn't stand the crap they did.

 

[OlderNDirt]

IMHO after all the videos I have seen on the news and other sources of police officers being shot or shot at during a normal traffic stop I can say with 100% certainty I would treat every stop like the person was a threat until I knew otherwise. Giving people the benefit of the doubt in all situations in their line of work may mean they don't go home that night. So I guess I am in the minority when it comes to my understanding of them proceeding with their duties like everyone is guilty until proven innocent. Or more fitting dangerous until proven harmless.

More likely, you are in the less vocal group rather then the minority.

 

[retired1]

The horse is dead. It's a quivering lump of unrecognisable flesh. As such, closing.