Got Handcuffed Vaping My GLV

[strprswpr]

I was in a Boardwalk Amusement Park last night with my wife. We go every once in a while just to walk around and relax. New laws in NY don't allow smoking cigarettes in NY Parks. I saw lots of people smoking....not that I care. I still love the smell of a cigarette. Well there we are just walking around and enjoying ourselves when all of a sudden I get grabbed from behind and forced up against a wall.....It's a cop and he tell me to spread my legs and he starts to frisk me. I tried to turn around and he got forceful and told me not to resist as he pulled my arms around and cuffed me. I asked him what the *#ck was happening and he didn't answer. PS....he finds my GLV in my pocket and asks me "What's This". Like he thinks he knows what it is. Tells me it's paraphernalia. I tell him what it is and he just ignores me. Now a crowd starts to gather and more cops show up. To make a long story short....15 minutes in cuffs and then I was cut loose after finally getting the chance to explain what it was. The supervisor showed up and apologized and I was on my way. Now I'm debating on whether or not I wanna file a complaint against the department. Would that even go anywhere??? My wife was very upset.

 

[warlike36]

Duckers....I would be at the station...like last night. Whether it went any where or not, I mean really...who do they think they are.

 

[strprswpr]

The NYC parks and public places are full of kids screwing around all the time. The cop was a young kid....He was apologetic and I'm really on the fence about this. I don't wanna screw up some poor kids life over this. No one was hurt other then being a little embarrassed. There is a report and the supervisor told me I could come to the precinct and make a complaint....I look at it this way....If my kids were in the park and there were guys getting high I wouldn't want them near that. I mean it's inevitable that they are gonna be subject to that anyway.....I don't know....My wife wants me to file a complaint.....But I just don't know.

 

[Ever1ast]

My disclaimer - I work for a PD but I'm not a cop, and I'm not sure how different NY laws are vs FL laws. That being said, if it were me, I would contact the dept and ask to speak to that officer's seargeant. Alot of it will depend on what the officer saw...or thought he saw. If he only saw smoke, and thought you had a cigarette; that seems like a pretty clear cut case of excessive force for such a minor infraction. On the other hand, if he saw you from a distance 'toking' on what might appear to be a .... or some other kind of paraphenalia, detaining you and cuffing you might have been that dept's protocol. I think we can all admit that to the uneducated, a PV might look a bit odd....maybe even something that you could use to do drugs. It sucks, but that's just the way things are; and cops are trained to look for things that look suspicious. However I would still contact someone in that officer's chain of command, and ask them to educate their dept on PV's so that type of error doesn't occur in the future.

 

[Scottitude]

In my opinion, you need to follow up with a formal complaint. Especially since the cop was young and inexperienced.

Better his own over-zealous actions (not yours) "screw up" his life than that of some 18 - 20 year old vaper who may not have the patience and maturity to cooperate with such blatant abuse of power and illegal search and seizure.

 

[hairball]

Definitely file a complaint. The county I live in is just as stupid but to some degree, it's understandable. But the cop should have let you at least explain what it was and what is being used for before slamming you around. Give some people a badge and they think they're God.

 

[strprswpr]

I do know for sure he said he thought it was a pipe for smoking pot. I know there are small pot pipes that they call one hitters that could be confused from far away with a Supermini. When I got grabbed it was in my pocket so he must have seen me vaping it just prior to that.

 

[AlmightyGod]

I'd file a complaint.

At the least, he'll be retrained on handling the situation.

 

[strprswpr]

Just to be clear. I wasn't slammed around. Just pushed a little.

 

[bassthumper]

Just let it go. If anything, go to the police department and give them a quick lesson on ecigs. That way it could stop another vaper from being harrassed....

 

[strprswpr]

That might be a good idea to go down there and give them a little education on vaping products.

 

[BWG707]

I would apply as much pressure as possible. These Da... Cops nowadays think they run the world. Most of the cops, especially city cops, have extremely over-inflated egos. They will always try to force their ways and opinions on everyone. They always "seem" to be right. They really need to be brought down to earth. I'm not saying they're not any good cops, there are plenty of good cops. But the majority of the cops that I have witnessed in my life are ego maniacs they think their shi... doesn't stink. Even some of the police that I've known personally are like that. It's a sad situation.

 

[AlmightyGod]

That might be a good idea to go down there and give them a little education on vaping products.

Do that in addition to filing a complaint.

 

[bassthumper]

Come on guys he was only doing his job. The best thing to do is go educate them to make sure it doesn't happen again. He said the officer was apologetic anyways...

 

[strprswpr]

I don't think I'll file a complaint....Just give them some info.....see what they say. Please let's not turn this thread into a cop bashing thread....Just sharing my experience.

 

[AlmightyGod]

So if I assaulted a police officer & then apologized, I should get a pass? I don't think it works that way.

 

[strprswpr]

I think that's a totally different thing. In reality it could have been a pipe.

 

[BWG707]

Didn't he say that the cop pushed him againist the wall before he found the PV in his pocket? My main complaint is the way cops go about their business, way to aggressive when it clearly does not call for it. Even when the situation is under control cops try to push to that next level. They really think their personal beliefs are always right. There is rampent negligence throughout our countries police departments, you can read about every single day, and there are no signs of it getting better (worse maybe). I'll say it again It's a sad situation.

 

[Timothy Cullen]

Well IMHO the education on vaping products is the best route to go here in the south the .... epidemic is rampant. I say epidemic because it is nothing but poison. I may have liberal leanings towards certain laws but I have dealt with a cop or two that thought I was using drugs when using my PV on public grounds. Quite simply e cigs are relatively new and your average Joe has no idea what your doing. To keep from rambling basically PV education is the only way were going to not be discriminated against. If the cop new what e cigs were the whole situation could have gone a lot smoother. With a simple request to see the "paraphernalia" in question.
Tim
☣

Sent from my droid/apple hybrid

 

[strprswpr]

I suspect that because of the holiday weekend the police are on a higher alert than usual. I agree, he was pushy but not arrogant. Just ignorant.