I Have Lost Respect For Our Law Enforcement

[SynysterPhoenix]

if you watch the video, it tells you exactly why. People died for us to use the rights given in the constitution and I'm going to use it

I sit through enough lectures, no thanks.

I have nothing to hide, I'm not a criminal, I don't look like a criminal, I respect police and they respect me in return.

I hope the whole 'rebel against authority' thing works out for you.

you should of told him to go fuck himself.

That's disorderly conduct, you would be getting a free ride to jail.

this is a bummer man, i would not settle for it. i would file a complaint/ claim.

I agree with Joe/everyone else that said to file a complaint. Arguing with the cop on the spot will usually get you nowhere.

Talk to the captain/sergeant in person and be as friendly as possible, pretty much the same thing as filing a complaint but much more effective.

Some cops/campus police like to go on a power trip, and no matter how much you comply or be respectful they're still going to be dicks. Edited September 27, 2009 by SynysterPhoenix

[SeanBeccaccio]

if you watch the video, it tells you exactly why. People died for us to use the rights given in the constitution and I'm going to use it

I sit through enough lectures, no thanks.

I have nothing to hide, I'm not a criminal, I don't look like a criminal, I respect police and they respect me in return.

I hope the whole 'rebel against authority' thing works out for you.

It's this logic that's gonna screw you over in the end.

[*sigh*]

As with any profession there are always going to be a few tools mixed in. There are a lot of cops who do a great job at protecting us, but then there are douche bags like that guy.

I will say however, you probably handled it the best way possible. File a complaint like has said before, but you Tom said you don't really want to mess with them on the spot, don't do anything to give them a reason to justify their attitude/actions towards you.

[Canon]

if you watch the video, it tells you exactly why. People died for us to use the rights given in the constitution and I'm going to use it

I sit through enough lectures, no thanks.

I have nothing to hide, I'm not a criminal, I don't look like a criminal, I respect police and they respect me in return.

I hope the whole 'rebel against authority' thing works out for you.

It's this logic that's gonna screw you over in the end.

if you guys want to discuss this further please bring it to the serious discussion part of the forum. I dont want to see this thread venture into a debate over the right to use the 5th amendment.

as far as the phunnel breaking, i would have brought it up to the other cop, he seemed more educated and would have been more understanding about your bowl breaking. its never too late to bring it up to the police.

[destructo]

next time dont say shit to any cop it cant possibly help you. first thing you say is "am i being detained" and if they say no pick your shit up and leave silently, if they say no they legally have to let you go. if they detain you tell them you know your rights and dont want to talk.

[mustang_steve]

He sounds both uneducated and slightly arrogant.

At the least his dept head should know that he's making threats. He choice in words was unacceptible. I wouldn't say threaten his job, but to take the moral high ground and suggest he gets some education on customer service and assertive speaking.....possibly see if he can learn some more about hookah as well. Offer up some good resources on this to his dept head that may be forwarded to him and the dept as a whole so they can better understand what this crazy contraption is.

Assertive speaking is where one explains their side in a understandable, non-threatening manner. Proper assertive speech can prevent situation escalatation as well as sometimes even calming a heated situation. This is something every man, woman and child on this earth should learn.

Too many people see a pipe with water filtration then equate it with an NHT device. Edited September 27, 2009 by mustang_steve

[ilikemyusername]

next time dont say shit to any cop it cant possibly help you. first thing you say is "am i being detained" and if they say no pick your shit up and leave silently, if they say no they legally have to let you go. if they detain you tell them you know your rights and dont want to talk.

don't want to talk or have your shit broked!

[delSol_si]

Thanks for all your kind words and advice. I think I have figured out what I am going to do. Am I going to try to get money for the phunnel? No. Am I going to file a complaint against the cop? No.

I like the advice about just printing out some useful information about hookahs and respectfully explaining my side of things to the cops down at the station and politely ask them to forward it to any cops that might be going to campus. I will also probably let them know briefly of the run in that I had just so they know why I am doing this. I am not going to go into detail and make a big stink about the whole thing.

I know many of you have voiced your opinion that I shouldn't "let him get away with this bullshit" and how he was "way out of line" and so forth. I completely agree with those comments. BUT, I don't want to cause any more heat against hookah that there already is. Here is the scenario I want to avoid:
Me: making a big stink out of the whole deal
them: ok, ya, the cop was out of line, but we are tired of dealing with this so we are just going to say no more hookah period and call it a day to avoid any more future problems
Me: well damnit, now what?

I mean, honestly, uneducated, close-minded pricks such as this cop, will always think a hookah is an NHT device no matter what I say. And, in general, since hookah is not that big around here (but is growing) and since the university can make up whatever rulings they want, my personal opinion is they won't hesitate to pull the plug on hookah altogether when and type of stink is brought up, whether I am in the right or not, its not going to matter. If the cop wants to overstep his boundaries, or if I act inappropriate with my hookah, same difference. I don't think the university will have much tolerance either way. I could be wrong, but I would rather not take that chance and not be able to smoke hookah.

And, in all honesty, I am glad this happened. It was a great learning experience for me. It kinda gave me more experience in dealing with a prick of a cop and now I will know how to handle the situation better in the future if it ever happens again. And, I should be glad that it was only a phunnel bowl and not the hookah that broke. A phunnel is much less expensive to replace. Plus, like I said, I wasn't really diggin the size of the purple one anyway. AND, foibled went down to Erics lounge and picked me out one that is uber sexy!! He wasn't able to get a mini for me, but he said it was as close as he could get his hands on (he said I would have to grow tits and get a vagina if I wanted a mini, haha )

Oh, also wanted to say, Rani' your posts are always inspirational. I can't talk to my mom about hookah as she is one of those close minded people (she is an awesome and loving woman, just is totally against smoking anything...period) and you filled that spot in this situation, thanks.

[delSol_si]

Oh, and get this....this is how my week is still going:

Last night I went to take a pic of my KM for hookahchat and put my brown phunnel on top to make it look complete. During the process, I dropped my brown phunnel AGAIN and chipped it AGAIN bigger this time. FML

[fillup]

wow, that sucks. You should definatly do something about the situation. And how would they be able to ban hookah?

[jeremyk]

man that sucks i would be uber pissed

[demonix]

soooooooooooooooo many idiot cops

[demonix]

if you watch the video, it tells you exactly why. People died for us to use the rights given in the constitution and I'm going to use it

I sit through enough lectures, no thanks.

I have nothing to hide, I'm not a criminal, I don't look like a criminal, I respect police and they respect me in return.

I hope the whole 'rebel against authority' thing works out for you.

you should of told him to go fuck himself.

That's disorderly conduct, you would be getting a free ride to jail.

this is a bummer man, i would not settle for it. i would file a complaint/ claim.

I agree with Joe/everyone else that said to file a complaint. Arguing with the cop on the spot will usually get you nowhere.

Talk to the captain/sergeant in person and be as friendly as possible, pretty much the same thing as filing a complaint but much more effective.

Some cops/campus police like to go on a power trip, and no matter how much you comply or be respectful they're still going to be dicks.

It's true, I've been stopped in my campus parking lot for nothing... twice.
first time they claimed I didn't yield, 2nd time because he thought my tags were out of date.
I showed the uptmost respect both times and got treated like shit,