Police officers need to be educated on Vaping!

[love_leigh]

Hi ECF! Just had an interesting message from a friend (Sheriff's deputy) on FB. She has seen me posting in a local vapers group and PM'd me about vaping. Recently she has become a D.A.R.E. liaison for an elementary school and when approached by a 5th grader about vaping, she realized she didn't have much info on the subject herself. She asked me what vaping is, if there are any illegal aspects of it and does it help? I answered her the best I could, then kindly linked her to ECF

It's just amazing to me that they haven't been educated about vaping, especially since it's beginning to boom. Anywho just thought it was interesting and curious to see others' thoughts about it. happy vaping, friends!

 

[eagarcia123]

thats strange. ive had times where ive been pulled over cause my mods didnt look like e cigs, but once I tell them, they go away

 

[Tecner]

Haha, when i first started vapeing i was worried a cop would see my silver bullet mod and think it was some sort of illegal drug paraphernalia.

 

[love_leigh]

thats strange. ive had times where ive been pulled over cause my mods didnt look like e cigs, but once I tell them, they go away

I've seen posts on ECF about being pulled over, it really baffles me as to why they aren't stepping their game up with regards to making sure their officers are informed.

 

[love_leigh]

I think what disturbs me most about it is that deputies, as said friend, are sent out to educate our kids and at the very least they should be thoroughly informed.

 

[eagarcia123]

thats strange. ive had times where ive been pulled over cause my mods didnt look like e cigs, but once I tell them, they go away

I've seen posts on ECF about being pulled over, it really baffles me as to why they aren't stepping their game up with regards to making sure their officers are informed.

im sure they are informed, aside from a cig alike and ego, nothing else would resemble an electronic cigarette. your average person that uses an ego or blu wouldnt even know what a lavatube or provari is

 

[Amish Ed]

Unfortunately for us people also vape other substances. Their portable PVs look awfully similar to ours. The kid could have been referring to those. I've had kids (teenagers) ask me if I was vaping with a certain product. I Googled it, it looks like an eGo battery with a funky clearo attached.

 

[love_leigh]

Unfortunately for us people also vape other substances. Their portable PVs look awfully similar to ours. The kid could have been referring to those. I've had kids (teenagers) ask me if I was vaping with a certain product. I Googled it, it looks like an eGo battery with a funky clearo attached.

Didn't realize that, unfortunate indeed.

 

[DFDF]

One of the more popular vaporizers branded and marketed for ........ use is basically an Ego.

 

[Jim Bob]

As far as that goes, people drink sodas and others drink beer and drive, both come in similar sized cans , I'd think that law enforcement would rather not have their time wasted on useless traffic stops etc.? I agree on sending uninformed folks to schools, that makes no sense at all to me.

 

[DFDF]

I understand why that word is censored, so as not to show up on search engines and give the wrong impression but that is just silly.

 

[Jim Bob]

It's made clear in the TOS and the posted rules

 

[potholerepairman]

Officers are great people and should have all the respect they get. Why teachers with twice the education get half the pay(w2, real take home) should be the new NOW slogan is the biggest puzzle of the 21st century to me.Forget the bra ladies, get paid.

 

[tc1]

You can't honestly expect law enforcement to keep up to date with ALL new technologies, ecigs or anything else for that matter.

It's the communities obligation to inform the uninformed.

 

[Jim Bob]

"Keeping up with ALL" isn't the same as sending them out to "educate" what they don't understand (IMO). My points are that rather than wasting valuable time for traffic stops for vaping wouldn't it be wise to educate them on what they ARE?

 

[love_leigh]

For the record, this is not putting blame on the officers themselves. Just saying.

 

[StereoDreamer]

I think what disturbs me most about it is that deputies, as said friend, are sent out to educate our kids and at the very least they should be thoroughly informed.

Based on my decade in the "Second Amendment" activism community, I can vouch for the fact that the VAST majority of LEOs--even the ones with good intentions and impecable integrity--don't actually know crap about the laws of their jurisdiction beyond basic traffic law.

Few know ANYTHING about gun laws. Few (if any) know about vaping. Many don't know about privacy laws, wiretapping and video recording/photographic in public. Most of them haven't a clue as to the difference between "reasonable suspicion" and "probable cause".

And the SAD thing is that they teach them in the Academies to NEVER say "I don't know". They teach them that if they don't know for sure but have a suspicion that something isn't legal, to just make the stop/issue the cite/make an arrest and the "courts will sort it out. They are also taught that if a citizen challenges them on these misinformed assumptions, they are to escalate IMMEDIATELY, and to assume that anyone who questions their authority is a "hostile suspect" and to treat them with the level of force appropriate to such a person.

It used to be that LEOs were called "peace officers". They were there to keep the peace, and to track down people who were KNOWN to hav already committed crimes and arrest them. They used to be helpful, courteous and friendly.

Now, they are "law enforcement officers" and their main job is to generate revenue by citing as many people for as many violations as they can--regardless of whether or not the people are actually guilty of committing a violation or crime. Now they are TRAINED--in the academies and by the Feds--to view EVERY citizen as a potential terrorist, ESPECIALLY anyone who would dare to question their "authority". And they are trained to NEVER show weakness--and if they don't know the law, to use force, persuasion and intimidation to hold their line even if they might not be right.

I have family in LE. I used to work for the US DOJ as a consultant and researcher so I know this business from the inside, (and LE is a business--make no mistake...) Most of them are good people, and they mean well, but it's becoming increasingly difficult for the good ones to stay in on the force (they get driven out by the corruption), and it's becoming nearly impossible for the good ones to not "turn" because they are surrounded by thugs, cheats, crooks and power-tripping bullies these days.

Sounds like your friend is one of the "good guys". I hope they are successful, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that they won't still be a cop in 5 years if they have ANY integrity or honor...

 

[tc1]

"Keeping up with ALL" isn't the same as sending them out to "educate" what they don't understand (IMO). My points are that rather than wasting valuable time for traffic stops for vaping wouldn't it be wise to educate them on what they ARE?

The problem being that the majority of the public knows little if anything at all about ecigs. So outside of someone in the.community taking the time to explain them, exactly who is going to educate law enforcement?

It's not like police stations hire consultants who keep them up to date on all new technologies in the world today and helps train officers accordingly.

The best thing you can do imho is be proactive and help educate your local government and community so that future incidents do not occur. Represent yourself as a concerned citizen and provide information and/or sources that people can check out so ecigs are no longer foreign.

Heck ... write a letter to your newspaper editor.

 

[love_leigh]

Loving the points of view y'all.

 

[shantyadon]

Based on my decade in the "Second Amendment" activism community, I can vouch for the fact that the VAST majority of LEOs--even the ones with good intentions and impecable integrity--don't actually know crap about the laws of their jurisdiction beyond basic traffic law.

Few know ANYTHING about gun laws. Few (if any) know about vaping. Many don't know about privacy laws, wiretapping and video recording/photographic in public. Most of them haven't a clue as to the difference between "reasonable suspicion" and "probable cause".

And the SAD thing is that they teach them in the Academies to NEVER say "I don't know". They teach them that if they don't know for sure but have a suspicion that something isn't legal, to just make the stop/issue the cite/make an arrest and the "courts will sort it out. They are also taught that if a citizen challenges them on these misinformed assumptions, they are to escalate IMMEDIATELY, and to assume that anyone who questions their authority is a "hostile suspect" and to treat them with the level of force appropriate to such a person.

It used to be that LEOs were called "peace officers". They were there to keep the peace, and to track down people who were KNOWN to hav already committed crimes and arrest them. They used to be helpful, courteous and friendly.

Now, they are "law enforcement officers" and their main job is to generate revenue by citing as many people for as many violations as they can--regardless of whether or not the people are actually guilty of committing a violation or crime. Now they are TRAINED--in the academies and by the Feds--to view EVERY citizen as a potential terrorist, ESPECIALLY anyone who would dare to question their "authority". And they are trained to NEVER show weakness--and if they don't know the law, to use force, persuasion and intimidation to hold their line even if they might not be right.

I have family in LE. I used to work for the US DOJ as a consultant and researcher so I know this business from the inside, (and LE is a business--make no mistake...) Most of them are good people, and they mean well, but it's becoming increasingly difficult for the good ones to stay in on the force (they get driven out by the corruption), and it's becoming nearly impossible for the good ones to not "turn" because they are surrounded by thugs, cheats, crooks and power-tripping bullies these days.

Sounds like your friend is one of the "good guys". I hope they are successful, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that they won't still be a cop in 5 years if they have ANY integrity or honor...

This scares me.