A Cop's Advice on Dealing with Cops (Slideshow)

[Nabeel501]

I hear you Don.. I was a cop when i first started training at the local 10th planet affiliate. It was weird at first because my agency had a negative attitude towards jiu jitsu so i didnt tell anyone at the PD i was training and didnt want to tell anyone at 10th planet I was a cop because I didnt want to make anyone uncomfortable... a misfit in two different worlds lol but it was all in my head and everyone at the school was cool when they found out and its kind of a joke with the instructor now. I still didnt tell anyone at the PD though just to keep the F'in roaches from IA off my back.

[Matt "Gumby" Glach]

Well here's a question for the 10th planet policemen, and I understand if the cops on here don't want to answer this but I'll ask anyway... If you are off-duty, training at a 10th planet gym, and in the parking lot of the gym, you walk by one of your peers, training partners, instructors, etc, in their car, smokin a bit of pot (illegally) before class (im not saying this happens, just hypothetical )... would you ignore it and pretend you didn't see it? would you confront them about it? would you arrest them for it? ...I ask because the answer to this question is a big part of why I think people are uncomfortable around cops, even if they are your buddies and training partners, because let's face it, no one wants to hang out with someone who could potentially lock them up.

[Don Quinn]

Well here's a question for the 10th planet policemen, and I understand if the cops on here don't want to answer this but I'll ask anyway... If you are off-duty, training at a 10th planet gym, and in the parking lot of the gym, you walk by one of your peers, training partners, instructors, etc, in their car, smokin a bit of pot (illegally) before class (im not saying this happens, just hypothetical )... would you ignore it and pretend you didn't see it? would you confront them about it? would you arrest them for it? ...I ask because the answer to this question is a big part of why I think people are uncomfortable around cops, even if they are your buddies and training partners, because let's face it, no one wants to hang out with someone who could potentially lock them up.

I will attemp to explain this the best I feel I can, without it sounding strange. As a Police officer we have discretion on a lot of situations, such as traffic offense and minor offenses against society. If a "victim" is involved that takes away that discretion and it is more on the shoulders of the victim. With that being said, there are A LOT of people that smoke weed, and yes it is a controlled substance however I have attempted to educate myself the best I can on the subject and I have taken a somewhat neutral stand. I rarely cite people for minor use of Marijuana "15 g" or less for personal use, that is a fine in our state and can be wiped from your record within 6 months, it depends on demeanor. However, I do believe with a lot of the people that a small ammount of marijuana is for personal use, but I have located marijuana with heroin, cocaine and presciption medication that the person doesn't need but obtained to sell or abuse. I don't believe children need to be in contact with any of the above listed drugs, It could be a choice upon adulthood but we have way to many problems with kids in schools and "gangs" which always involves some type of drug use. I don't and have never tried any narcotics I was raised as a cops kid and was disciplined hard for anything I did that was wrong. In closing for this post, Matt, I would HOPE that anybody that I am involved with especially training partners and friends that know my position especially as a police officer would have the respect not to do that around me and cause me to make that decision. I'm not going around off duty looking to arrest people for personal use of marijuana, however like I said there are a lot of other drugs out there, especially prescription medication that are out of control and need some type of enforcement.

[Eric Perez]

I will attemp to explain this the best I feel I can, without it sounding strange. As a Police officer we have discretion on a lot of situations, such as traffic offense and minor offenses against society. If a "victim" is involved that takes away that discretion and it is more on the shoulders of the victim. With that being said, there are A LOT of people that smoke weed, and yes it is a controlled substance however I have attempted to educate myself the best I can on the subject and I have taken a somewhat neutral stand. I rarely cite people for minor use of Marijuana "15 g" or less for personal use, that is a fine in our state and can be wiped from your record within 6 months, it depends on demeanor. However, I do believe with a lot of the people that a small ammount of marijuana is for personal use, but I have located marijuana with heroin, cocaine and presciption medication that the person doesn't need but obtained to sell or abuse. I don't believe children need to be in contact with any of the above listed drugs, It could be a choice upon adulthood but we have way to many problems with kids in schools and "gangs" which always involves some type of drug use. I don't and have never tried any narcotics I was raised as a cops kid and was disciplined hard for anything I did that was wrong. In closing for this post, Matt, I would HOPE that anybody that I am involved with especially training partners and friends that know my position especially as a police officer would have the respect not to do that around me and cause me to make that decision. I'm not going around off duty looking to arrest people for personal use of marijuana, however like I said there are a lot of other drugs out there, especially prescription medication that are out of control and need some type of enforcement.

Well said, personally I make enough arrests on duty, that I dont have to arrest my friends off duty,,lol

[Matt "Gumby" Glach]

I will attemp to explain this the best I feel I can, without it sounding strange. As a Police officer we have discretion on a lot of situations, such as traffic offense and minor offenses against society. If a "victim" is involved that takes away that discretion and it is more on the shoulders of the victim. With that being said, there are A LOT of people that smoke weed, and yes it is a controlled substance however I have attempted to educate myself the best I can on the subject and I have taken a somewhat neutral stand. I rarely cite people for minor use of Marijuana "15 g" or less for personal use, that is a fine in our state and can be wiped from your record within 6 months, it depends on demeanor. However, I do believe with a lot of the people that a small ammount of marijuana is for personal use, but I have located marijuana with heroin, cocaine and presciption medication that the person doesn't need but obtained to sell or abuse. I don't believe children need to be in contact with any of the above listed drugs, It could be a choice upon adulthood but we have way to many problems with kids in schools and "gangs" which always involves some type of drug use. I don't and have never tried any narcotics I was raised as a cops kid and was disciplined hard for anything I did that was wrong. In closing for this post, Matt, I would HOPE that anybody that I am involved with especially training partners and friends that know my position especially as a police officer would have the respect not to do that around me and cause me to make that decision. I'm not going around off duty looking to arrest people for personal use of marijuana, however like I said there are a lot of other drugs out there, especially prescription medication that are out of control and need some type of enforcement.

Thanks Don, I appreciate your candor... I agree with most of what you're saying, especially about prescription medication (down here where i live in south florida that is by FAR the biggest drug problem), and I also agree with the fact that children shouldn't be exposed to any drugs, including marijuana. I guess it all comes back to the fact that the ignorant laws criminalizing harmless drugs like marijuana forces people who are only interested in pot, to be exposed to harder drugs since they're forced to buy from street dealers. It's interesting to hear first hand, and please correct me if im misinterpreting what you said, that police generally assume that someone using marijuana has a greater propensity for having other, more harmful drugs in their possession as well. It's also nice to hear that there are some open-minded cops out there like yourself who recognize that personal use of marijuana, not in front of children, isn't a crime truly worthy of punishment. Thanks again for your input. I personally have extremely mixed opinions when it comes to law enforcement... I have a bachelors degree in criminal justice from university of maryland (at the time it was the #1 crim school in the country, not sure if that's still true), so I've studied and experienced law enforcement from the inside sort of speak. On the other hand, I'm a firm believer in the personal use of marijuana being legal and socially acceptable, and find it extremely unfortunate that cops end up getting a negative reputation in general, simply for doing their job and enforcing laws that shouldn't exist in the first place. So yea, thanks for keeping the streets safe for us, without law enforcement this country would have destroyed itself a long time ago, but leave the potheads alone, they aint hurtin anybody

[JAnderson]

Don i am also a police officer and i think you hit the nail right on the head with your last post. I will say that when i am off duty i try to put on blinders to most "minor" offenses. I do hate how some cops are dicks to people sometimes though. Citizens always lump all law enforcement together and it gives all of us a bad name.

[Kevin Sparks]

This is one of my favorite cop songs

just piss them off until this happens

[Kevin Sparks]

This is one of my favorite cop songs

[Kevin Sparks]

[Kevin Sparks]