Has this ever happened to you?

[Eivind211]

I'm in the car driving along, then I get flashing red and blue lights in my rear view. I didn't think I was speeding, but at the same time, I wasn't really paying attention. Pull over into a vacant lot, the police officer walks up and asks me if I knew why he was pulling me over. The usual line, and I replied "speeding?" he said no and asked me if I had any drugs or weapons in the car. My reply was yes, I did have my pistol in the lockbox mounted in the trunk, as it's almost always there. He asked me for my weapons permit, license, registration, the usual, then he asked me for my pipe. I didn't have a clue what he was talking about, then he pointed at my SVD sitting in the cup holder. I laughed a little, and told him what it was. He asked a few more questions and then asked if he could search my car, I told him yes, because I knew it would take about 30 minutes or more to get a K9 unit out there if I said no. His brief search turned up nothing, and he went to his car to get the drug kit. He asked how to open the tank to get the liquid out so he could test it, I told him it had to be unscrewed from the device and the bottom comes off, but I had some extra liquid in a bottle in my pocket that he could test if he wanted to. He compared the two liquids and satisfied they were the same, he dropped some of my ejuice into a little vial and put some drops of something else from his kit in there and shook it up. After a short while he kind of apologized and gave me my stuff back and told me I could go, but warned me not to be using my device while driving to avoid this kind of hassle in the future. My immediate thought was ".... of there" as I had places to be, but looking back on it now, if I'm not doing anything wrong, why should I not use my device while driving?

I'm more than a little irritated he wasted my time, and even more irritated that he advised me not to use my device while driving. Have any of you had an experience like this?

 

[erikbal]

Wow, honestly I would've been pretty angry about all of that harassment. That's just ridiculous. I've heard people on here talk about getting questioned before but it's never happened to me. I don't know why people associate PV's with such negative things. I've gotten comments on mine before saying it looks like some sort of paraphernalia, just from friends though. I use an MVP2. How does it look like that in any way? Sorry you had to deal with such an ordeal. All over living a healthier lifestyle!

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk

 

[slipdiskk]

I've had this happen. I was vaping my provari and got pulled over. The cop asked for my pipe, I handed him the provari and a bottle of juice. After my explanation he was satisfied. He said he never saw an e cig that big.

 

[Rosenec]

Your a better man than me. I would not let them search my car with out a warrant.

 

[Kryyptyk]

I've never gotten pulled over, though a friend of mine has. She just cooperated and educated the officer on what it was.
I have gotten questions from walking officers though, they are mostly curious as to what it is. Even had a cop pull out his device and vape with me once.

 

[Whatsername]

Wow, OP, that sux! I would be very upset if that happened to me. Sorry you went through that.

My husband and I got pulled over a few years back because I ashed my cigarette out the window. Not threw the .... out, mind you. Who doesn't do that when they smoke in the car? And since when is it against the law? (it's not.)

I can't believe he went so far as to test your liquid! SMH

 

[Hypatia]

Your a better man than me. I would not let them search my car with out a warrant.

Yep, no warrant? No search.

 

[Jarbs]

so you put something to your mouth and the cop pulled you over? sounds like a legitimate reason to pull anyone over...

 

[TheReign]

Stuff happens man, sorry to hear what happened. Big waste of time for the both of you and I bet he felt like an idiot afterwards.

 

[dripdaze]

You put something to your mouth that was not a cigarette. What assumption would any knowledgeable person make?

 

[ScottP]

Yep, no warrant? No search.

If they really want to search your car, they can arrest you and hold you for 24 hours without charging you then search your car at the impound yard.

 

[Hypatia]

If they really want to search your car, they can arrest you and hold you for 24 hours without charging you then search your car at the impound yard.

Go ahead, I know my rights...I'm hardcore like that. Not afraid of the militarized mentality of the police (disclaimer: SOME bad eggs wearing the blue. There are a vast majority of men and women officers still upholding the oaths that they took).

 

[StarsAndBars]

Your a better man than me. I would not let them search my car with out a warrant.

A warrant would have simply drained valuable time out of your day, and cops get paid by the hour. Yeah, that'd show em'. Getting an uppidy attitude with a cop is about the dumbest thing you can do.

OP I realize you were inconvenienced and I'm sorry to hear about it, but obviously this cop was under the impression that you were doing something you shouldn't be. After he found out that you weren't... end of story. Don't you want cops to seek out people they believe are breaking the law?

 

[1buda]

Not to hijack the OP post.

I was standing at the dock door at work vaping to my hearts content. One of the drivers asked me if he can bum a smoke from me. I told him I quit smoking, then he said what was you puffing on then. I showed him my ecig, he said oh that's one of those fake cigs. He also mentioned that he quit smoking years ago and just wanted a little buzz. So I wipe off the tip and told him to take a big drag just like smoking a regular cig. Boy was he in for a surprise, he got the biggest buzz when he exhaled all the vapor. Now I don't know if I feel good turning him on to ecig, now he said he's headed to buy a set up after work. He also mentioned that he has not smoked in 5 years,

 

[Eivind211]

Your a better man than me. I would not let them search my car with out a warrant.

The problem is that if I refuse the search, then he has suspicion, that's enough for them to call a K9 and search it anyway. Kind of a catch 22, either way, I knew he wouldn't find anything other than my pistol, which I have the CC permit for(and told him about), but it was in the lockbox.

I'm not as irritated as I was when it happed, or made the post, but I am going to follow up with someone at the local PD about it. I'm a laid back kind of guy, I just would hate to have this happen to someone else.

 

[Hypatia]

A warrant would have simply drained valuable time out of your day, and cops get paid by the hour. Yeah, that'd show em'. Getting an uppidy attitude with a cop is about the dumbest thing you can do.

OP I realize you were inconvenienced and I'm sorry to hear about it, but obviously this cop was under the impression that you were doing something you shouldn't be. After he found out that you weren't... end of story. Don't you want cops to seek out people they believe are breaking the law?

Nobody said anything about an "uppity" attitude (BTW, I detest that racist word, BLECH). Cops who think that they can search without warrant because someone sticks something in their mouth that isn't a cigarette are in the wrong. And if they didn't sleep through cop school, they know it. Even if I were to be confronted by a person clearly confused, I still would conduct myself with the utmost respect and a pleasant demeanor. It's just the way I operate, all day, every day.

But mess with our rights when you're clearly going against them (since, clearly an officer of the law would see I was in no way under the influence of anything = no clear, articulated probable cause), I will respectfully invoke the Fourth Amendment, whether under threat of detention or impounding of my vehicle, or whatever the case may be. Just because I have nothing to hide does not mean I give consent to unreasonable search and/or seizure.

 

[Eivind211]

OP I realize you were inconvenienced and I'm sorry to hear about it, but obviously this cop was under the impression that you were doing something you shouldn't be. After he found out that you weren't... end of story. Don't you want cops to seek out people they believe are breaking the law?

I do want the police to seek out law breakers. The whole situation breaks down into two problems, the officer being ignorant, and myself being oblivious.

His ignorance isn't really his fault if he doesn't have a reason to research ecigs and mods and such, I don't blame him, he was doing his job, it was more the way the encounter ended and he gave me a warning not to use my device while driving. I would suppose this evening he'll be going over the days events and maybe google ecigs and get some education.

I was just having a drive, albeit in town so I was paying attention to other drivers and pedestrians, but I usually don't watch out for the police.

 

[StarsAndBars]

Nobody said anything about an "uppity" attitude (BTW, I detest that racist word, BLECH). Cops who think that they can search without warrant because someone sticks something in their mouth that isn't a cigarette are in the wrong. And if they didn't sleep through cop school, they know it. Even if I were to be confronted by a person clearly confused, I still would conduct myself with the utmost respect and a pleasant demeanor. It's just the way I operate, all day, every day.

But mess with our rights when you're clearly going against them (since, clearly an officer of the law would see I was in no way under the influence of anything = no clear, articulated probable cause), I will respectfully invoke the Fourth Amendment, whether under threat of detention or impounding of my vehicle, or whatever the case may be. Just because I have nothing to hide does not mean I give consent to unreasonable search and/or seizure.

Did I use a racist word? Seriously? If so I want to know, because I didn't intend to at all. 'uppity' is a racist word in your opinion? Hmmm, now I'm confused because I have a difficult time seeing it as such, and certainly didn't mean it that way.

What you need to realize is that cops are trained (for very good reason) to suspect everyone as a potential threat. They are not taught to act as customer service reps. The cop in the OP situation was in the wrong, but certainly not out of line (from what I've heard of the situation at least). Maybe I'm completely wrong, but from what the OP said so far, I don't feel like the cop was out to infringe on anyone's rights. It seems to have simply been a mistake. He or she is still just a person, and they are bound by the same imperfections in judgement as anyone else.

Would you really want to drain your day by waiting for a warrant if you had nothing to hide just because you felt like it was your right? You'd also be wasting the cop's time. You may not care much about that, but imagine being a cop. You're in a serious situation and need back up, and none is to be found because the closest officer to you is tied up waiting for a warrant to search some 'disagreeable' person's car, because they want to be 'disagreeable.'

OP handled it just right if you ask me.

 

[retic1959]

Did I use a racist word? Seriously? If so I want to know, because I didn't intend to at all. 'uppity' is a racist word in your opinion? Hmmm, now I'm confused because I have a difficult time seeing it as such, and certainly didn't mean it that way. What you need to realize is that cops are trained (for very good reason) to suspect everyone as a potential threat. They are not taught to act as customer service reps. The cop in the OP situation was in the wrong, but certainly not out of line (from what I've heard of the situation at least). Maybe I'm completely wrong, but from what the OP said so far, I don't feel like the cop was out to infringe on anyone's rights. It seems to have simply been a mistake. He or she is still just a person, and they are bound by the same imperfections in judgement as anyone else. Would you really want to drain your day by waiting for a warrant if you had nothing to hide just because you felt like it was your right? You'd also be wasting the cop's time. You may not care much about that, but imagine being a cop. You're in a serious situation and need back up, and none is to be found because the closest officer to you is tied up waiting for a warrant to search some 'disagreeable' person's car, because they want to be 'disagreeable.'

Disagreeable or not it is a right , and it's not your place to decide if someone cares to exercise it or not , my answer to the above question is yes if he wants to waste my time then I have no qualms about wasting his , I will never consent to a search without a warrant as is my right , you keep waiving yours and you're contributing to the loss of all our rights IMO .

 

[Iffy]

I told him yes, because I knew it would take about 30 minutes or more to get a K9 unit out there if I said no.

Wrong! NEVER consent to a search when you haven't done anything wrong!!! Best advice I can give anyone when stopped for BS reasons, just respectfully say, " I request to speak with your shift supervisor".

- His brief search turned up nothing, and he went to his car to get the drug kit.
- He asked how to open the tank to get the liquid out so he could test it.

Let him figure it out. If he can't, have him call in a forensic vaping 'expert'!

- He compared the two liquids and satisfied they were the same, he dropped some of my ejuice into a little vial and put some drops of something else from his kit in there and shook it up.
- After a short while he kind of apologized and gave me my stuff back and told me I could go.

How considerate of him... NOT!!!

- but warned me not to be using my device while driving to avoid this kind of hassle in the future.

Bingo, another perfect time to respectfully request to speak with his shift supervisor!!

My immediate thought was ".... of there" as I had places to be, but looking back on it now, if I'm not doing anything wrong, why should I not use my device while driving?

Doh!

I'm more than a little irritated he wasted my time, and even more irritated that he advised me not to use my device while driving. Have any of you had an experience like this?

The problem is that if I refuse the search, then he has suspicion, that's enough for them to call a K9 and search it anyway. Kind of a catch 22, either way,

Not trying to bust your balls. But ya pretty much did all the above to yourself. Nuttin' personal, but ya did absolutely nuttin' for your next 'encounter', da next stopped vaper and your fellow law abiding citizens!

Thankfully, 'round here, I've had no issues; other than my one and only vaping LEO ENCOUNTER.

And no, I'm no Rambo, nor a jailhouse lawyer, by any means. I'm just an ol' fart that knows MY rights!!!