I saw a small scuffle today in the local park, it was like one punch and they were just being drunk. And a cop asked me if I saw it. I said yes and off the bat he asked for or my personal info. Name, addy, Phone #. I said ill tell you what happened but im not giving you my name. He got pissy real quick and said. "You are part of this investigation now, you must give me your name" I feel like im 75% sure i could have argued to not tell him my name. But I didnt feel like dealing with a dick head today. He was treating it like a murder or some shit... Next time im just not going to say anything. Sheesh cops these days man....
Yeah cop sounds like a douche but its best to just follow along with it unless he is violating your rights in some manner.
Sigh - he wanted to be able to contact you in the future should there be a trial or something, you are a material witness to a crime - And when you refused a simple request that you really shouldn't have, then he starts to think something's fishy with you. Jesus Christ some paranoid mother fuckers in here.
Well he's probably just taking down your info to contact you if he has any questions or to get another statement... Perfectly legal and harmless.
I think some people are just too into picking fights with authority whenever possible. There's a time and a place... people need to pick their battles, and I don't think this one is worth fighting.
Yeah...fo sure. I've had more encounters with police when I NEEDED them than not, including driving. So I guess my perspective is a bit different. I'm never doing anything illegal anyway as a patient, so I'm never even worried about that. Shit I've called 911 more than a couple of times in the course of my life...cops don't scare me, they're just people with badges.
Yeah, I've had to call 911 a couple of times myself. Too many people act like cops are the enemy. We smoke weed, they enforce weed laws, therefore it's us against them. Until something happens where you need the cops... A cop asking for your information because you witnessed a crime isn't trying to trample all over your rights, he's not trying to get your address so that he can spy on you or invade your privacy, he just wants your info so that they can contact you about the crime you witnessed. Cops are just people. Some of them are assholes, just like people. People can hate cops all they want, but they should remember that they might just need a cop someday.
See, Some...Some even do their jobs properly and don't hassle your average person too I've known a few good cops, Helped me when I needed it, And sure some crazy ones have treated me like a long haired hippie person, but for the most part they've been helpful in times of need. Op, I doubt anyone should worry about addresses and cops unless you're up to no good, I mean, I've had to give my info after witnessing wrecks and shit and after break-ins in my driveway. I've been called to give a statement, that's it. Nothing bad or sketch has happened yet *knock on wood* Im a non-med toker, and It still doesn't worry me too much.
Hell, the 9-1-1 dispatcher will ask for your address too. I'm not going to be like "I am not required to give you my address. Contact my lawyer. " I am also a non-med toker. My take on the weed thing is that I know the risks and I choose to take them. If I get caught and get a fine or something then it's my own fault. I knew the risk was there, I took the chance anyway. I'm not going to be all "FUCK THA POLICE" about it.
"I'm guilty. I understand that. I knew it was a crime, and I did it anyways. Shit, why argue? I'm a fucking criminal, look at me." But really,that's my outlook on it.
Yeah, I mean I wouldn't exactly fess up right away upon getting pulled over but if I knew a cop was going to find my shit... then fuck it, yeah officer, I smoke marijuana. You just found it. I accept my punishment. I've heard countless stories around here about people who have been honest with cops and just had their weed stomped out on the street and given a warning because they were honest about it. I've also heard countless stories about people who were less than friendly about it and ended up with a large fine. You gotta figure, most cops probably don't want to deal with the paperwork and shit... but if you're going to be a dick to them, then they're going to be a dick back. I'm not saying we should all consent to every police request, by any means. But there is a definite difference between "no I'm not going to give you consent to search my car because I really gotta get home" and "no I'm not going to give you my information because it's not required and I just really feel like being a pain in your ass".
Exactly.I'm not going to tell them "yeah officer,it's in my trunk!" but if he happens to look,then I'll be like "You know,there might be some weed in there." And you're right,a little respect can go a long ways. Fortunately,I've only had one encounter with the police where they wanted to talk to me and it was because my first car hadn't gotten plates yet,because I had just got it and the cop was very nice and friendly.
I've only had two direct encounters with cops (as a driver). I got pulled over once because I didn't have my lights on. It was my fault completely. I was eating some fast food in a parking lot and I turned the headlights off but left the interior (dash) lights on so I didn't realize my lights were off when I started driving. It was the first time I had ever been pulled over and I acted a total mess in front of the cop... all just "oh my god, I'm so sorry, I totally thought my lights were on because the inside lights were all on and I must have not turned them all the way off so it looked like my headlights were on and I thought they were on and [ramble ramble ramble]." The cop was real nice about it, came back to the car after running my license and was like "You don't have any priors... I'm sure you don't want any, so just make sure to turn your lights on and we're good..." (That was also the first time I had ever been in my car with slightly over an ounce on me. An ounce here is just a fine, but over an ounce is more severe.) The other time was... well, it's a long story and I won't get into it here, but I got away clean when I was |this| close to a felony strictly because I was kind and respectful and let them not quite search my car in a way that satisfied all parties.
after going to jail 7 times, being on probation 3 times i have learned that the police have all my information allready even stuff i dont even know about