Cops Called on Me! >:(

[NickSkye]

Tonight, in southern californa, orange county, the cops arrived at my door because i was pointing my laser in the sky... im pretty sure its 100% legal and the cop was just an a**hole. i was strictly pointing it in the clear night sky constantly checking for planes and other things i should not hit... then as i was leaving in my car to go to my friends house about 5 minutes later i noticed he was still there... stalking my house and my car and when i pulled away from the curb the cop quickly ensued with his headlights off... i found the nearest alleyway and ditched him but shit... ive checked but im a little nervous now, was anything i doing wrong, and what should i say next time something like this happens???

peace,
Nick

 

[Alaskan]

Well, either he saw it or someone complained about it. Today, cops are becoming more and more aggressive and dangerous, be careful when dealing with them, you never know when you get a crazy one. Unless you have a local ordinance against such (I have never heard of such a thing), I doubt it is illegal. Also, since he didn't immediately come looking to arrest you, I doubt he was doing more than just being a dick, so to speak. All of that said, if someone complained I imagine he could warn or even arrest you for disturbing the peace, that's always an easy one to use if a complaint, even if legal. Would it stand up in court though? Either way, they win, having harassed you and made a record for you, even if you win against it, the record remains as a blemish for potential employers to see. Civilization! Ain't it great! At least we aren't lonely, nor would you be in jail, might be a new friend wanting to meet up with you there. My cousin was arrested for using his laser pointer to turn off a street light across from his house, a helicopter pilot complained he was being harassed by his green laser because he saw it and thought that was his intent. You can be arrested for pointing at aircraft even if you didn't intend it or know they were there or for that matter, even if they think you were trying to do so when you weren't, be careful.

I'm a pilot myself, have been for many years and I can tell you we can be real arrogant asses thinking we are sky kings and you lowly earthlings need to be kept at bay, you are ground dwellers and need to understand your place, we don't even want to see a laser pointing up into our domain, whether pointed directly at us or not.

 

[Flaminpyro]

I have to agree with Sky King there and could only add BE VERY CAREFUL when you in a city and there are airports only a few miles away, it's probably a good
idea not to use your laser outside in your area unfortunately but then you live where you live and you have to deal with that.

I live in the country so it's not a problem for me to step out on the porch any time and use my laser but then I chose to live here and I have to deal with that.

Also your city may have it's own ordnance restricting the use of lasers in public so you should probably check on that at your city hall.

I suspect you are probably safe to do what you were doing since you were not written up or hauled away or possibly you were safe since the officer didn't
actually see you and the laser beam himself but it should be obvious they are watching you.

Maybe it's time to play indoors

Well, either he saw it or someone complained about it. Today, cops are becoming more and more aggressive and dangerous, be careful when dealing with them, you never know when you get a crazy one. Unless you have a local ordinance against such (I have never heard of such a thing), I doubt it is illegal. Also, since he didn't immediately come looking to arrest you, I doubt he was doing more than just being a dick, so to speak. All of that said, if someone complained I imagine he could warn or even arrest you for disturbing the peace, that's always an easy one to use if a complaint, even if legal. Would it stand up in court though? Either way, they win, having harassed you and made a record for you, even if you win against it, the record remains as a blemish for potential employers to see. Civilization! Ain't it great! At least we aren't lonely, nor would you be in jail, might be a new friend wanting to meet up with you there. My cousin was arrested for using his laser pointer to turn off a street light across from his house, a helicopter pilot complained he was being harassed by his green laser because he saw it and thought that was his intent. You can be arrested for pointing at aircraft even if you didn't intend it or know they were there or for that matter, even if they think you were trying to do so when you weren't, be careful.

I'm a pilot myself, have been for many years and I can tell you we can be real arrogant asses thinking we are sky kings and you lowly earthlings need to be kept at bay, you are ground dwellers and need to understand your place, we don't even want to see a laser pointing up into our domain, whether pointed directly at us or not.

 

[Raiden Gekkou]

I guess city cops are different than country cops. The cops in my city are generally decent about it (except for 2 encounters) and try to make sure that I know the law and how to be safe with it, and every time a cop rolls by he usually stops me, but the cops around my college in WV have only ever stopped me because they thought it was cool and wanted a closer look, and they don't bother stopping me anymore.

 

[Speedy78]

Cops will shoot you for no reason now a days. I would avoid using a laser anywhere near a city or airport. It only takes a little bit of lead and a corrupt police system to ruin your day. Lol

 

[Blarg King]

I guess I'm pretty fortunate then because I live about 5 Km from an airport and I've been shining lasers into the sky for years (always pointed away from the airport and never when theres planes in the sky). Luckily its a small airport and we only have a few commercial flights a week and the rest is recreational pilots and few if any have licenses to fly at night.

I think its to a point where my neighbors look outside and see the beam shooting off into the sky and just shrug and continue

EDIT: Also I do live in Canada, so I think (and hope) that our police here might not be as prone to being jerks as police elsewhere.

 

[TheDukeAnumber1]

Tonight, in southern californa, orange county, the cops arrived at my door because i was pointing my laser in the sky... im pretty sure its 100% legal and the cop was just an a**hole. i was strictly pointing it in the clear night sky constantly checking for planes and other things i should not hit... then as i was leaving in my car to go to my friends house about 5 minutes later i noticed he was still there... stalking my house and my car and when i pulled away from the curb the cop quickly ensued with his headlights off... i found the nearest alleyway and ditched him but shit... ive checked but im a little nervous now, was anything i doing wrong, and what should i say next time something like this happens???

peace,
Nick

I curious, can you be a little more descriptive with the words that were exchanged?

 

[hakzaw1]

Hmmmm

I 'used' to think like you do on this (the OP) -but if i have learned anything in 66 years its that the deck is stacked and your 'rights' are meaningless. Also i am, not really sure you are within your 'rights' to display a laser in 'public' Especailly if it was one of your JL 600mW 532s- as it has a beam that is as bright as most any handheld can be and its size alone makes it appear dangerously large and in court it would be very easy to show a judge/jury how dangerous it really can be.

So... They(JL PL-E) look both illegal and dangerous even when NOT being used. There exists many laws already that could be applied (even if dropped later) that would look to any judge to be cause for seizure-or even arrest-- such as 'reckless endangerment' or 'failure to obey a legal order from law enforcement'

you need to realize you are now in a no-win case here-- These days you can't turn on a cop show or see a cop movie when there are NO laser sights on guns- Any cop is within his 'rights' to do anything he feels is in the realm of protecting the citizens--

Its possible that others in your area may have gotten visits like yours or had lasers taken away when actually doing something much more stupid that you have done.
Or never were caught- some may think- mmm is this the same guy we looked for last week-month-year?? The very last thing I would do is lodge some kind of complaint- these go into the cops 'jacket' for life-

This i do know (from experience)

They are in charge- and have the badge and gun.

They will find some law or cause to stop you or worse.

What gets put into the 'report' may differ greatly from what you actually did or said.
or what they did/said.

They will almost ALWAYS back each others story up.

You will never will a case with just your word v one cop-

if there are more than one present you are DONE- they will get their stories straight and unless you have some kind of recording- like audio or camera- OR a credible witness to back you up-- you are done.

Are you planning to move away from where you live now?? If not you should consider
just letting this go and refrain from using any laser at night in the 'city'.

last bit of my 2 cents-

If you have placed this thread at the laser show forum the replies would be MUCH different than what you read here-- VASTLY different!!

EXAMPLE-- at the big gathering SELEM in 2011 --somebody saw a blue laser beam pointing up into the sky at night-not sure if this was at the venue or the hotel and anyway that does not matter. nor did it matter that there was most likely NO aircraft seen at the same time.


this was seen by some of the SELEM attendees- I VERY big deal was made over this- some got VERY pissed off as they saw that as something that cannot be good and very likely bad for all.. I heard the opinions of many and NONE gave a rats ass about the rights of the laser owner- IF anyone reading this plans to make SELEM- its best that you NEVER use any laser outdoors at night while at the event-

Think about this -- say you are an archery fan or like bow-hunting. and some fool does something bad with a bow and arrow- puts one into a car- or house- or worse shots a human or a pet or wildlife just to kill- Things like this make all look very bad- and one should not be surprised to hear later about some new law getting passed making a bow and arrow further regulated or illegal in certain areas or occasions. This may not be the best example of what I mean but I think you can get the general idea here--

If I were you I would consider myself to be very lucky that the laser was not taken away... next time you may not be so lucky..


hak

 

[Marco Polo]

Congratulations, you've just become a victim of the government-goon lies I've been ranting on about. This is why that issue is such a problem - thanks to the propaganda, an innocent person has been harassed by the state for doing nothing wrong.

Maybe it was just the cop who saw it, but it wouldn't surprise me if one of your idiot-public neighbors has drunk the kool-aid and now believes lasers in general to be "illegal." Perhaps somebody was trying to cash in on that 10,000 dollar reward.

eta: I strongly urge all of you to tape-record or video-record ANY interaction you have with the police, NO MATTER HOW MINOR. If you think this sounds paranoid, it isn't. I had a cop try to lie to my supervisor, back when I was a student employee at the school, and the ONLY thing that saved my job was the fact that I had the asshole and the entire conversation on tape. If I hadn't, I would have been fired, for certain, 100%. Imagine what would have happened if the cop had been lying to a judge and jury, rather than my boss.

 

[The Lightning Stalker]

The other day I spun out and went off the road because a snow plow had left a pile of snow out in the
road. It was almost invisible. The tow truck driver said he had to call the sheriff because there was
"property damage", even though the homeowner said the mailbox was no problem because it was some
kind of collapsible plastic and was easy to reset. The officer and truck driver shook hands and I got a
$75 tow bill, and a $90 speeding ticket.

Two weeks later I get a letter in the mail saying I will get a point on my license unless I take a $100
"voluntary" driving course a significant distance from my home. My last citation was over ten years ago
in another state. I feel like a victim of extortion.

 

[Fiddy]

 

[Blarg King]

Wow. Cops sound scary where you guys live. Here they seem perfectly reasonable.

 

[ARG]

Wow. Cops sound scary where you guys live. Here they seem perfectly reasonable.

Yup, never had a problem with the police here. They're friendly and easy to talk to

 

[Marco Polo]

I got pulled over for expired plates a couple of months ago. Somehow I forgot to renew. The officer gave me a ticket for it, didn't really want to, but I was 5 months out of date, so I couldn't blame him. But then the officer told me how to get out of the ticket and be left with only court costs, basically get plates renewed tomorrow and go to the court date with the paperwork. I did what he said and it worked, charge dismissed, ordered to pay court costs... effectively a reduced fine, plus no blot on my record.

The cops in my town are really great. I'm not so sure they'd freak out on me if they saw me with a laser provided I wasn't menacing anyone with it. Hell, even the highway patrol around here is polite.

It's the FED-GOV goons I'm afraid of. Also, cops in any larger city. Too impersonal an environment.