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 Replies: 36 / Views: 5,079 |
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Valued Member
United States
294 Posts |
Why were you stopped in first place? I'm sure he didn't see the scale in passing and decide to pull you over. Don't be so quick to jump on the cops. Keep in mind they probably deal with more druggies than coin collectors. They do sell that stuff by weight, not volume. So the scale on the seat would raise a red flag. Think about how many officers get shot by drug dealers versus coin collectors. Especially in Florida. Unless he pulled you from the car, pistol-whipped you, and did a cavity search, what's the problem? He's only trying to protect himself.
Edited by omahaorange
12/10/2011 07:40 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
Quote:
Unless he pulled you from the car, pistol-whipped you, and did a cavity search, what's the problem? He's only trying to protect himself. I admit I haven't seen Florida statutes so I'm not 100% certain the Officer was mistaken. However, I have done an online search & there are plenty of places in Florida that sell digital scales. That leads me to believe the Officer is wrong. Having said that, here's the problem. A representative of the law has shown that he thinks something is illegal when it isn't. The same representative has effectively threatened arrest for a "second offense". A best case scenario shows a lack of training of that particular officer. Worst case is that there are one or more law enforcement officers out there who think they should interpret the law in any way they see fit. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
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Where is the America I grew up in? You guys must all be a lot younger than I am because that IS the America I grew up in. When I was growing up we knew that if thhe cops wanted to bust you "Drug paraphernalia" was a great catch all charge that could be used against you because just about ANYTHING could be called drug paraphernalia. scales, spoons, alligator clips, clothes pins, lighters, rolling papers, ink pen with a metal clip, pipes of all kinds, any chemicals that could be used for cooking drugs, bandanna or scarfs that could be used as a tourniquet for raising a vein, etc. Sure it might not hold up and the case get tossed but in the mean time you could be hassled, and it could cost you to defend yourself. If you went with a public defender you could still get off but it would take awhile and still cost you a lot of headaches. Today's generation, if they chose to use it is "being in possession of bomb making materials". What are bomb making materials? Oh things like wire, batteries, timing devices such as a watch or anything with a clock in it, any chemicals that could be used to make explosives such as bleach, acetone, battery acid etc. Know anyone who DOESN'T have some of those things? One thing I have seen people being charged with lately that surprised me, having WMD's, Weapons of Mass Destruction! When I was a kid WMD's were things like atomic bombs, chemical warfare or biological warfare weapons. So I went looking to find out just what the legal definition of an WMD was. It turns out to be something that can kill more than one person at a time. or a device that contains more than four ounces of explosives. FOUR OUNCES! Get one of the larger morter shells they sell as fireworks during the Fourth of July and you have 500 grams or mor than four times the threshold for being considered to be a WMD! In Iraq they couldn't find any WMD's but a single hand grenade would qualify here at home. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
597 Posts |
by the way its not just florida I have now found this law in 46 states.
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Valued Member
United States
294 Posts |
Quote:
Having said that, here's the problem. A representative of the law has shown that he thinks something is illegal when it isn't. The same representative has effectively threatened arrest for a "second offense". A best case scenario shows a lack of training of that particular officer. Worst case is that there are one or more law enforcement officers out there who think they should interpret the law in any way they see fit. OP never said he was threatened with arrest. It's not illegal to possess them (heck, I own one myself, actually bought it from a guy selling other "drug paraphernalia" at a local flea market). Not a reason for arrest, but like I said, it could raise a red flag, and depending on your attitude, be used as "probable cause" to further search you and your vehicle. Cops get shot every day. These guys have the right to protect and defend themselves. When I was growing up, people respected the police. Doesn't appear to be that way today. |
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Valued Member
United States
306 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1151 Posts |
Let me guess, New York was one of those states...
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1731 Posts |
Im guessing it is. yankee
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
What's next? Good Lord.
What was his PC to stop you (probable cause)?
swcoin.ecrater.com
Edited by vermontensium
12/10/2011 7:46 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1151 Posts |
I'm not busting on New York, it's just the truth, every little thing that can somehow be considered "fun" they either have some type of ban on it, or there is just a law against it. For example, my dad and I love to just hang around and sit by the fire, you know the usual, roasting marshmellows and talking. But what does New York come and do? They put a burning ban which includes but not limited to any one that has a fire with smoke high enough for the public to see, can be fined and forced to put the fire out. Crazy I know, but thats just it. My dad and I now keep the hose next to our fire pit instead of the nomal bucket with water.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4897 Posts |
Yankee...you have to put a steel grate over the fire and keep some hot dogs handy...there is no violation for "grilling"!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1151 Posts |
And we've actually done that! But, they'd find a violation for something. I swear it's like living in a Gestapo state, so many cops and every where. I got stopped at the mall when I was walking out of the coin shop they thinking that I'm a theif...makes me angry.. And just to let everyone know, if you don't wanna call me Yankee, my name is Billy  |
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Rest in Peace
United States
7075 Posts |
Geez, all these posts made me remember when I got pulled over for speeding -- yep, I was speeding -- and the cop looked in my car and I had four or five 35mm film cannisters full of change for the tollway. (Remember film? and those little black plastic cannisters with the gray caps?) He opened and sniffed every one of them. They were in plain sight and he had the right to search -- I suppose.
The difference is that in my case he checked out the film cannisters and wrote me the speeding ticket and that was that. There was no threat of arrest for simply having them.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
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so was on my way to buy some coins today and got stopped by the police. when the officer saw my little scale in the seat next to me he asked why I had it. so I explained it to him, to my surprise he says well this time ill let you go but from now on be aware that a scale in Florida is drug paraphernalia it dose not matter what I use it for. Quote:
OP never said he was threatened with arrest. It's not illegal to possess them (heck, I own one myself, actually bought it from a guy selling other "drug paraphernalia" at a local flea market). Not a reason for arrest, but like I said, it could raise a red flag, and depending on your attitude, be used as "probable cause" to further search you and your vehicle. Cops get shot every day. These guys have the right to protect and defend themselves. When I was growing up, people respected the police. Doesn't appear to be that way today. I guess we are reading the OP differently. When a law officer tells me something is drug paraphenalia & that they will "let me go this time" the implication is clear. I'm not sure what any of this has to do with officers getting shot or lack of respect for the police. Like any profession there are good & bad individuals. IMO an officer that uses a questionable item (or stereotyping, racial profiling, etc) as "probable cause" has crossed the line. I expect a higher level of professionalism than that. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1151 Posts |
For this debate, I don't view it as disrespecting officers of the law, I view it as the society that we live in, it has been about drugs. And it is also a matter of location, I'm not trying to start an argument but if you look at it, Florida has a lot of drugs coming in, so you have to look at it in their point of view.
But for the most part, I don't think that a scale should be considered drug paraphernalia, but something like little bags or rolling papers could be.
Is it right that they said that to you? No, but if you look at it like they do, it is logical.
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Replies: 36 / Views: 5,079 |
First Page
Posted 12/10/2011 09:06 am
