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Held at gunpoint over my hookah.


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So, on the night of Saturday, October 14th, I was at a party to celebrate my friends Jesse & Dana's birthdays. Things were going well. There was drinking, there were people smoking my hookah in a bedroom, and overall it was a mostly enjoyable experience.

There were some guests outside of the room, which has its own external door, being overly loud. So, the police had come by earlier in the evening to tell us we should keep it down. Later on, some more people had come to the party and were gathering outside of Jesse's room once again. Again, the neighbors called the police, instead of just asking us to keep it down.

This time, Officer Moss shows up. He is outside shining his flashlight around and trying to make a big show out of his authority, when someone opens the door to walk outside and he spots my hookah sitting on a table. This is when things took a turn towards the stupid. In his mind, of course, this was absolute evidence of illicit narcotic use.

Let me clarify something here: I have never ONCE partaken in illicit narcotics. Not one time.

So, this officer takes it upon himself to push thru a crowd of people and shove the door open. When he did this, the door struck a guest who was standing on the other side of it. Having felt that someone was there, the officer put his shoulder into it, striking the party guest once again and pushing him back against the wall behind the door. The officer then went for his firearm and unholsters it. He began screaming at everyone to "Sit the fuck down. Sit the fuck down right NOW." I stand there for a moment, not really believing that this exaggerated caricature of a power-tripping cop was actually holding a gun and screaming at us when there were no crimes committed.

I sat down and waited for the officer to calm himself a bit. After a moment, I said "You need to calm down with your sidearm there, sir. In fact, I'll need to have your name and badge number immediately." At this point, he raised his side-arm to point directly at my face, shaking it around and screaming at me to "SHUT THE HELL UP. SHUT THE HELL UP RIGHT GOD DAMN NOW. YOU'LL GET IT WHEN I FEEL LIKE IT."

It became abundantly clear, at this point, that this was not a male stripper hired for the birthday party.

Having gotten a proper feel for the intelligence level I was up against, I decided to just shut up and wait for his backup to arrive, because it is less likely for him to just decide to shoot someone if there are other officers there. At this point, one of the inebriated guests speaks up, saying "Actually, sir, we will need your badge number right now." Officer Moss looks to him and says "You'll get it. When I arrest every person in this apartment, it'll be on your arrest tickets." Many people in the room spoke up, saying "There hasn't been a crime." His response was to look at my hookah and say "Yeah, right."

The inebriated guest once again spoke up to say "No, I need your name and badge number now." In response to this, the officer ordered him to stand up. He then placed him in handcuffs and told him to sit back down on the other side of the door.

So, we wait for a moment and another officer shows up. This one is Officer Van Norton. He is calm, relaxed, and in control of himself. He steps in, asks a few questions on what is going on, and assesses the situation. At this point, I speak up, pointing to the hookah, and say "Sir, you should know that all of this is mine." I pointed under the futon. "There is more of the tobacco there under the futon if you would like to check it out. This is just tobacco, completely legitimate." He steps over and points at the mostly-empty baggie labeled "Caramel Macchiato." "What’s this?" "That’s just a baggie that contained some of the tobacco." He opened it up and smelled it. "This isn't pot... Hell, this looks like sesame chicken."

At this point, things wound down, with Officer Van Norton explaining to Officer Moss that it was just tobacco and that his big arrest would have to come another day. Officer Moss hauled the inebriated guest off to detox, since he was drunken outside of his own home. He was later picked up and was, to my knowledge, okay.

I spoke with the lieutenant on duty at the time who tried to brush my complaints off. I informed him that he'll have to deal with a formal complaint on this matter.
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Damn that is crazy shit.Be sure when you make the complaint that you point out how well the other officer handled things and that if he had been the first officer to arrive that things would not have escalated in the first place.
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QUOTE (evlspcmk)
wow thats quite a story  
been busted by cops a few times thinking it was pot but after sniffing the tibacco and searching me  we just moved on, but nothing as insane as that!

take the "] out of your sig and it should work
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Man, I've had similar things to this happen. Never once have I seen a cop get in trouble, not even when my brother and his friends (13 freaking years old at the time) get jumped by 3 black dudes IN FRONT of TWO cops. These kind policemen claimed that they didn't think that 4 white kids would need protection from only 3 black men. (I'm in no way racist, details were only included to help establish what happened).

I think it's rare to find policemen that actually lack human decency, but it happens. To my knowledge, cops are educated on identifying drugs and paraphernalia
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An off-duty San Diego cop, who had been only on the force for like 9 months, chased down, in his civilian car mind you, Chargers' linebacker Steve Foley for suspicion of drunk driving. Foley has a history of police contacts, it should be noted. Foley has no idea this guy is a cop, and seems to be threatening this out-of-uniform cop, who then shoots Foley twice (I think twice). Foley's out for the season. I think somebody though they found a mean black guy and thought they were gonna execute him, for disrespecting the law!...that dude bit back, he wasn't some lowlife the cops are used to executing on spec. San Diego's cops aren't even all that racist. Where did this happen?
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I have absolutely no respect for the police. Police are only there to protect the interests of the rich...in fact, police would be unnecessary if it weren't for the disparity between those that have, and those that have not. Why am I going to respect somebody that doesn't respect me.
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Oh wow that sucks...that definitely reminds me of my freshman year in college...

I was smoking hookah with 6 other friends in a park. We were not doing anything illegal, just enjoying each others company. Suddenly you see 3 cop cars and a SUV speeding up to the benches we were sitting at. They all get out, something like 8 cops, pull out their fire arms and told us to lay flat on the ground. We got searched and questioned for like 30 minutes. They were obviously trying to bust us for marijuana or something lame. They were definitely pissed that they couldn't get us for anything...

Everyone assumes hookah = weed... sad.gif
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QUOTE (lwieise)
I have absolutely no respect for the police.  Police are only there to protect the interests of the rich...in fact, police would be unnecessary if it weren't for the disparity between those that have, and those that have not.  Why am I going to respect somebody that doesn't respect me.


Put down the RaTM cd bud.
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QUOTE (lwieise)
I have absolutely no respect for the police.  Police are only there to protect the interests of the rich...in fact, police would be unnecessary if it weren't for the disparity between those that have, and those that have not.  Why am I going to respect somebody that doesn't respect me.



:roll: are you fucking serious? you dont respect police because they enforce the law? yes because there is disparity between the rich and the poor. nobody ever said you HAVE to steal. and I like how you encompass everyone that has more money than you rich and disrespectful. :?

Wow you obviously need to think before you ever post again, that is probably the second most ignorant comment I have read on this forum, following closely behind the moron who said Tangiers was racist and to boycott him.


to the original poster, sorry to hear about the mishaps, I have received guff about my hookah before also. Same reason, I must smoke weed from it cause that is why it was created.

I swear, ignorance in this fucking country is growing leaps and bounds every week.
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People somtimes. They get so stuck in a rut that anything new is automatically bad. Honestly if they are going to give you that much trouble over a hookah then they should harass everyone with a cigarette, not like it takes much to cut out the tobaco and stuff it with pot. I am thankfull that even though I live in utah and am younger I have yet to be harassed while hookahing lets hope my luck keeps up.
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Well Hell. I am going to pop my head above the parapit on this one.

To the original Poster :- I feel for you. You were taking part in a legal activity in your home. That's totally out of order..

To the other's proporting to be hassled whilst hookering in the public...

Surley you know public opinion and stupidity? To my mind taking my hookah into St James Park on a sunday afternoon is going to be akin to flicking a lions balls with a wet towel. Pointless and can you really be surprised at the outcome?

JD
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This is why I don't smoke outside. A nice smoke in the park is outweighed by the possibility of dealing with an ignorant cop.

The gun thing was pathetic. I'd say he was out of line even if it had been pot. Like a bunch of stoners are going to pose a physical threat. :roll:
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