Cool cops

[socalgg1551]

I had a pretty interesting experience today with the police that I thought I would share. I was driving home today after smoking a bowl in my car and ended up getting pulled over for having expired tags. After taking my drivers license and registration the cop instantly asked me if I had weed in the car because he obviously smelled it. I told him I did and it was a very small amount. He then asked me if I had been arrested before for anything and I suddenly got nervous and said no I hadn't, when in reality I did get arrested for possession of heroin and possession of a needle back in 2011 (I'm not addicted to heroin anymore and don't use any drugs besides weed). The cop runs my information as I see more police back up arrive and returns to my car and instantly asks me what happened in 2011 with the possession charge. I then shamefully admitted to it and apologized for lying to him and said I assumed that since I had taken care of the charge and it was expunged it would not show up.

I then was expecting the cop to treat me as most of us drug and ex-drug users would expect a cop to treat a documented junky who just lied to them and was driving in a car smelling like weed and bring the shit storm down on me with the usual name calling/verbal abuse and vigorous search of my person and the car while seated on the curb. Instead, the cop waves away his back up and leans into my window and takes off his sun glasses and proceeds in a very caring way to ask me about my history and what led me to become addicted to heroin and congratulates me on kicking the habit and wants to know what I did to help me get clean. He tells me he wants to use all the information he can get to help kids out there who he sees struggling with drugs. I told him I got clean by getting into serious weight lifting and martial arts and he tells me he lifts as well and we ended up having a 20 minute conversation on the side of the street about lifting and martial arts lol He didn't want to search my car at all and even let me keep my weed and told me to keep up the good work and let me go. No ticket, no nothing. I couldn't believe it lol

Anyone else have similar experiences with cops like this? There was a couple times back when I was still using heroin and crack where I got busted in the hood and the cops just threw away my dope but still treated me like a complete piece of shit who deserved to die. This was my first time dealing with a cop who really saw addiction as a disease and didn't treat me like a criminal. I guess the police are finally understanding a little lol

 

[Felonious Monk]

What state are you in? If your state has progressive laws I'd imagine it helped the situation.

But I think the current heroin epidemic helps more....he deals with so many younger adults in the throes of addiction that being able to actually talk to someone who beat it is better than a crummy possession ticket.

 

[szuko000]

Cops are people too and as people they are shaped by their direct experiences. It is possible as Monk stated hes seen or worked with people who were directly impacted by opiates. Even something as simple as witnessing the pain in the mother of a child who didnt know there was an issue until they came to the station to get their child, cop has kids sees and empathizes because he has a kid that is coming into maturity in the same world. I would imagine most people feel empathy and are shaped by the tragedies of life around them

A lot of my family on my mothers side is/was police and as far as i can tell they arent bad people. I couldnt see any of them being asshole cops, honestly. I have heard they were good cops and that they werent like the bully cops that would harass me in my hometown when i was growing up but who knows really. But theres a lot of police (and military) in my family but also they are all city cops in New Haven CT so its probably a bit different then the small town cops that would bother me. Weird side story when i was on dope and getting dope in the same city i would often wonder if there was ever a chance they would spot my car randomly parked in the ghetto... not saying they would stop or treat me differently but there were times at holidays where my cousin, a narcotics officer at the time, i swear he was saying "how are you?" with more concern then he use to. The way i saw it what did it matter i was a junkie i needed dope my immediate family understood this there was no awkward conversation to be had about it lol.

The only officers that ever treated me poorly were the ones in my small town... all others i didnt mind be it when i was in cuffs or not. I made the mistake of getting involved with them and they were doing their job as long as its fairly i hold no resentment. I am also a conversationalist so unless they are rude or something i usually make small talk which always helps.

 

[placid space]

regarding that 2011 stop, I think it only shows up but without the description why. Anyone knows for sure? Been wondering this for a while.

 

[socalgg1551]

Well I live in California which is a very liberal state but the stop happened in Orange County which is one of the most conservative parts of the country.

placid space, I was wondering about that as well....

 

[Pibolar]

It's cool that he didn't give you a ticket and all. I just don't like the police officer's job in general. They are given too much power over others, and I think that's wrong. The job is too often mishandled in the US. I think it needs reform.

Good on him for treating you respectfully though. Had it been a less upstanding cop, the situation could have quickly deteriorated.

 

[Felonious Monk]

Well I live in California which is a very liberal state but the stop happened in Orange County which is one of the most conservative parts of the country.

It's just being in CA as much as anything else. Even in OC it's a world different than Ohio or something. I got stopped a cop walking down a sidewalk in Irvine hitting my pen with my gf--they checked out recs and let us go. Just warned us not to smoke in public--didn't even take our pens or BHO.

 

[weekend addiction]

It's just being in CA as much as anything else. Even in OC it's a world different than Ohio or something. I got stopped a cop walking down a sidewalk in Irvine hitting my pen with my gf--they checked out recs and let us go. Just warned us not to smoke in public--didn't even take our pens or BHO.

Oh yah. Cops have let me go for weed a few times but where I live in NC you can definitely still go to jail for a small amount of weed. I saw one court proceeding where a guy was from VA and told the judge I gotta get back so the judge just gave him a $400 fine for the few grams he had. Throw in court cost, being locked up for a night, and the effect on his criminal record and he had to go through alotta shit for a little bit of weed. I'm pretty sure everyone else with pot got a weekend in jail but no fine.

In philly you could have up to an ounce and you'd get a 100 dollar ticket. In CA you just need a medical card and you can have a bunch more than that. Its crazy how different the drug laws are across the country goes to show you how divided the country still is on this issue.

 

[cannablissss]

The only time I (almost) got in trouble with the law is when I was smoking outside on my balcony because it was a nice day. I smoked a lot of dank so the smell drifted, I'm sure. Next thing I know, a cop pulled up across the street with his partner and they both get out and ask me how I'm doing and ask if I've been smoking, etc. What's great was that they confiscated the bowl to my bong but not the bong itself. His exact words were, "This isn't illegal because it's glassware." He was smiling while he said it.

Unfortunately, they had to take the bowl piece, and since it was full of resin they took it and gave me a possession charge. The cop went over everything with me and told me just to keep it inside from now on. When I went to my court date, it ended up being dismissed because the officer chose not to show up to testify. No charge, my record is still clean to this day. It happened last year.

Ever since then, I see the same cop occasionally, I assume he's assigned to my neighborhood or in the vicinity. We've had a couple of conversations about hopes of legalization happening in Virginia, but most of the time he's just making sure I'm not getting into anything and staying on top of my medical career.

I've also had a roommates who turned into a thief and stashed the stolen property in my apartment. When the cops came in to search, I didn't have enough time to hide my bong. One of the officers told me not to worry about it because it isn't what they were there for and actually complimented my piece. Not all cops are assholes. They're humans with empathy.