got busted for fireworks last night...cop is just a pawn

at least according to the cop.
first time i had my son for the fourth in 8 years. it was 4 adults and 2 kids...no booze, no dope or nothhing....best thing i they were not my fireworks...they were my stepfathers...i did not buy one single firework.

so, cop pulls up and asks who lives here and puts me right in the car....drives a few houses down and puts my neighbor in the car....neighbor asked if we could get off with a warning but the cop said no because "i am just a pawn and the chief has made it clear that this is the prefered method of dealing with this"..

i was looking on his little computer thing from the back..i think this cop was driving around street to street just citing people...his screen has a whole page of address blocks(like 1100 block of 10th street) and on and on...so, i get my citation and i have to go to friggin court on the 10th.

cop said it is legal to buy and sell them, just can't light them off.

funny how things work. i thought it was funny how the cop called himself a pawn...
court over fireworks. unreal.

this is when i feel like cops are robotic...imo, he could have made a judgement call and kept on driving....we were not drunk, irritional, irate or anything like that. not drinking. not trying to blow up mailboxes and garbage cans....simply putting on a show for our children.....

funny thing is my 10 year old and my 14 year old brother were both quite upset becuse they both saw me getting stuffed in the car and they both know it's not my fireworks. they don't understand and it is stuff just like that, that makes our younger people not want much to do with the police.

could he have explained the loophole law and made us clean it up? sure...could have done a bunch of things but i suppose this is a good way for the state to make money.

That is just bizarre that they just put you in their car in front of your kids. Did he even state why? Other than lighting up some fireworks, why even bother selling the fireworks if you can't light them up. As long as your in a safe area with no tall grass, what the heck. What a free country we have. Sorry your kids had to see you thrown in a cop car, I love most cops, but some are just pathetic, and on a power trip. Just because you carry a gun and a badge does not give you the right to abuse people. I have relatives that are cops or ex-cops. Sad just sad.

Originally posted by paigcal
That is just bizarre that they just put you in their car in front of your kids. Did he even state why? Other than lighting up some fireworks,

he pulled up and he asked who owns the house and my stepdad kinda got tounge tied and i jumped in and said i own it cause i do. cop asked if i had id and i kinda tapped my back pocket to see if my wallet was in my pocket and it wasn't. i said yes and said it is inside and was going to get it but he told me not to go inside and then opened the door and told me to get in the car...my son who is 10, my wifes cousin who is 10, my little bro who is 14, my wife, mom, and stepdad were all right there and they all saw me get in the car.....my son was looking dead at me when i was in the back and the front window was down so i yelled as loud as i could'go back to the house' and he did. then, the cop starts driving and i'n thinking wtf....we stops a few houses down and puts my neighbor in the car.

thats when he tells us how he is just a pawn and how it is legal to buy and sell them, just can't light them off.
he never did check my id. he asked me my social, birth date, and name but he didn't check it in the computer. i 'could' have given him fake info.
then, he called dispatch and asked for a file number or something and she read it back. he let me out and told me here is my citation, you have to go to court on the 10th.
i called the clerk this morning to see if i could get the court appearence waived and just pay a fine and apparently is is NOT a waivable offense. i HAVE to appear in front of the judge.

i know this is just a way for the state to make money. now i just have to soul search and see if i want to be a good boy in front of the judge or while i have a whole court room full of people and a judge there, should i actually say my piece about how much of a pile of crap this is, then take my contempt and do my 2 days in jail or whatever.
i have not decided yet.

Well that is just ridiculous and I can't even believe he just threw you in his car. Why could he not just tell you simply there in your yard. Giving you a citation is just absurd. Good luck with your court thing that just sucks you even have to make that decision. Sorry to hear it. Imbesiles..

That's insane. I bet the forefather's of your country are turning in their graves, afterall 4th July is INDEPENDENCE day, right? So much for that...

Good luck in court, hope it goes well.

That really sucks. Putting you in the car to take you downtown is ridiculous.

The illegal fireworks in my neighborhood were out of control this year. I'm really surprised that no one got hurt and nothing burned down around me. My neighbors were setting off the kind that shoots 60 in the air...less than 15 feet from a bunch of cars. The idiot lighting them kept almost burning himself too. I'm not the type of neighbor to call the cops though- i just kept an eye out from my house, ready to dial 911 in case anything did go badly.

we didn't go downtown, he just put me in and we went down a few houses and he put my neighbor in the car too.
i know this is just BS formality crap that is going to end with me having to pay a c-note or so...depending on how spunky i feel that day it may be more. i am not usually oe to call attention to myself though. i desperately want to but there are things that prevent me from just being able to toss it out there and go contempt and say screw two nights in jail...i wish i could do that but i don't know if i can and honestly, would it matter if i let the judge know just how i felt abou this? of course in a nice way but just let it be known that these days, with society in general viewing cops as uhhhh, not someone to 'trust', how do they think theese kids react when all they see is their dad/brother getting put in the car, cop busting up the fun family time on independence day...
that might be a key event in how they feel about the law in the future and i don't think that is stretcing it. my son is 10 and he was quite upset that it eas me and not my step dad as they were not my fireworks.


it's a way to make some cash and nothing more...you can buy the damn things all over the place around here and the cop even said it is a loophole law but alas, he is a pawn.....yawn

If they are illegal, he's just doing his job. Another thing, sounds like this is something that came from the higher ups in the department. He was doing what his superiors told him to. End of story. If you want to light fireworks then find out if they are allowed. If you know they aren't and still do it, then can't complain when ya get in trouble.

For a first offense, either get a lawyer or appear in court looking spiffy and say you apologize and won't do it again and the judge may drop all of those charges. Remember it costs them money to prosecute especially if there are a bunch, and this is more of a nuisance to them, unless they're looking for getting a lot of fine money.

A lawyer may be able to get the charges dropped even before court; not sure.

To go in there and argue innocence and stuff may seem right to you but probably makes them angry. If you plan to do that get a lawyer so he can argue the law.

Good luck!

Originally posted by vckums
If they are illegal, he's just doing his job. Another thing, sounds like this is something that came from the higher ups in the department. He was doing what his superiors told him to. End of story. If you want to light fireworks then find out if they are allowed. If you know they aren't and still do it, then can't complain when ya get in trouble.

my point though is this is just another example of random enforcement.
why go directly for the homeowner?

i told my mother 2 weeks ago that if the cops come and ask who's fireworks they are then they need to pipe up.
they were not mine....was i lighting them off? sure...a few of us were.

as i said, i'm supposed to check the city code before i do anything....apparently, ALL the fireworks are illegal to light off. there were some that my step dad bought at a fireworks store and some my son brought from k mart. according to the pawn, you can't light any of them.

i understand the cop is doing his job but according to him he said the chief made it clear that a citation is the 'prefered method'....did not say only, he said prefered.
in the end it is not so much about the $100 i'm gonna be out. big deal. for me it's about the cop COULD have made a judgement call instead of being a robot. he COULD have cited me like the chief said without sticking me in the car in front of my kid....see what i mean?
it is not black and white and it 'could' have been handled differently.

did you know in this state, there is a law on the books that states women can not wear patent leather shoes.

so, since that is 'the law' should i play it safe and make sure my wife does not wear such shoes out in public. i mean, the cop would be doing his job in citing her right?

before we leave th ehouse to do anything, are we supposed to get our law books out and look at all the codes?

i would assume when the cops roll through to cite someone, they cite the person who bought the fireworks, the person that knowingly purchased them...nope.....got me instead.

it's a loophole and that is another part of the problem.

loophole laws and random enforcement are what is wrong. not me getting cited. the way the cops present themselves in front of kids on a holliday with their family is the issue.

it is his job to cite but is it his job to stick a 10 year old kids father in the back of the cop car, then drive down the street a bit to leave the kid and everyone else left to wonder what is going on? i really don't think so

COULD have been handled differently/better.
and for that matter, go ahead and cite me...then, give me an address where i can mail the check so you can get your money. i called the clerk and can not waive it. i HAVE to go to court.
why?
court costs baby? cash money is what this is all about.

want to stop so many 'illegal' fireworks from being lit off? stop selling them all over the place in the state...there is a good start

There are some laws that are seriously out of date, and I doubt would be enforced.(the patent shoes) Look to see when it went into law as I'm doubting it was recently.

If you were beating up on someone infront of your kid, you think you wouldnt have been put in the car infront of your kid? It doesn't matter. Maybe this will show your kid that laws are there for a reason and enforced. You knew they were illegal and you still lit them. Regardless of you buying them or not, posession is 9/10th's of the law. You were in posession of them, you lit them off, therefore you got in trouble.

I don't think you need to look at the law books before doing anything, unless you think it's questionable. C'mon common sense comes into play, use it.

Originally posted by vckums
Maybe this will show your kid that laws are there for a reason and enforced.

yeah, i doubt that. there was as tory that my mom just emailed me from my local paper. it said that in this state, by law, if you aquire the fireworks you are supposed to transport them out of state within 48 hours.

i ask, what is posession cause technically, when th ecop pulled up i was sitting in the groung about to light a bottle rocket. did i posess this stuff cause it was on my property cause all i had on my was a bic?
do i also 'posess' my parents vehicle cause it is on my property? posession is 9 10ths of the law after all right?

if that is in fact the law, why did the cop not ask any of us for proof of purchase? if th efireworks were purchased 10 hours earlier, is it breaking the law? if no proof of purchase is presented, then why not cite EVERYONE lighting them off? the dude down the street had about 10 adults with thim...were they not all in posession?

in the end this is a crap law and you friggin know it.
if it is not about making money for the state and is learly about safety, then they would not allow these to be sold in the state...simple as that..
instead, they are available everywhere with all these loophole laws.

now that i know about the 48 hour deal though, i would like to know why the cop just assumed it was under that time. why did he assume they were mine and as i said, if the posession thing you mention is true and not some thing we learn on the playground, then i got some work to do. if it is simple as posessing something, then i just 'aquired' all kinds of stuff.

so what exactly is posession? me lighting ONE bottle rocket means i am in posession of ALL the fireworks that are there?
i really don't think so. things are not black and white and if the cop would have slowed down for one second, he would have been told that yes it is my house but they are not my fireworks and maybe he could have cited the proper person.

my step dad gets hundreds of dollars of fireworks EVERY YEAR....i NEVER do. this is the first time in years that i have participated in anything like this and i get a citation. so, the person that does this EVERY YEAR gets to put all of his ILLEGAL fireworks back in his trunk as i am sitting in the car...
if they were illegal, why did the cop not take them?
after my step dad loaded them back into HIS car, was HE not in posession of them?

gimmie a break dude....bad judgement call. everything is not black and white. thats all there is to it

edit* my common sense told me if the cops pulled up, they would cite the owner of the fireworks...i mean, that makes logical sense. instead, i get cited and the fireworks in question get loaded back into th etrunk for future ignition....

[edit on 6-7-2007 by Boondock78]

Maybe you were the one cited because as you said,you were kneeling on the ground ready to light it. Possesion means in control of it. Which you clearly were.

There's no loopholes I can see, you were caught. People like you complain the second they get in trouble. Their excuse is always "well so and so is doing it, why not get them". Simply, they got YOU. You were the one they spotted. You were the one getting ready to light the firework. Complain all you want, but the police officer was doing his job.

State laws vary from state to state, but on a busy night such as the 4th, the police officers have more to do then just mess with someone.

Originally posted by vckums
Maybe you were the one cited because as you said,you were kneeling on the ground ready to light it. Possesion means in control of it. Which you clearly were.

There's no loopholes I can see, you were caught.

there are loopholes. you can buy them. you can sell them. you just have to transport them within 24 hours..well, what about under that amount of time?

i didn't know that me kneeling down with a bic, about to light off a bottle rocket meant that i am in posession of them...
say what you will, i think it is all BS and nothing more than a way for the state to make some cash and you will not convince me other wise. if it was truly about safety, then you would not be allowed to buy these at all in this state.

besides, you said yourself to use common sense...my common sense told me if something hapened, the person who owned the fireworks would get cited....that is common sense is it not?

common sense tells me if they are truly worried about the safety of these things, then the cop would not let them load the illegal fireworks back into their trunk....common sense tells me that.

so i think i can reasonably assume this was about nothing more than making some cash.

if you want to get very technical which it looks like, i was in posession of a bic lighter. that is what i had posession of. i can not posses something i do not have on me nor do i own now can i?

say what you will. i see your stance and i just wanted to vent. i'll take my BS fine and will tell the judge my piece. i know what this is about and so do others in my neighborhood that seen it and that i have talked to. consensus=this was BS.
a few ninnernet coppers like yourself disagree and thats fine.

vckums, in the no respect for cops thread on this page which is also about fireworks, you stated this

---What it comes down to is the safety of civilians. They took the illegal fireworks away.-----

^^^^^this is what i have been trying to argue in my example. it seems to me in my example that it is NOT about safety of civilians because they DID NOT take the illegal fireworks away...the cop cited me, the home owner while the owner of the fireworks loaded them back into his trunk.
THAT is what happened in my case...i see you have an opinion about this issue obviously and i wanted to make sure you saw that i am not 'one of those' that complain when i get cought. i could have said to the cop i live here BUT, these are his blah blah...i didn't though. i jumped in and took the heat...i don't care about that.

my point is if it was in fact about safety, then you either would not be allowed to buy those fireworks or the cop would have taken then. besides which, the cop himself tells me he does not agree with the law and he is just a pawn.
money, not safety..that is my point.

you really think i care about the misdeamenor or the $100 fine...?
i'll wipe my ass with that c-note.
i am debating myself in my own head on if i should use this as a venue to say my piece and do a couple nights in jail to make a point. the only thing that leads me against this is i have a degenerative condition and i can only go so long without my medicine...i will sacrifice 36 hours in jail to tell the judge how i feel though

I would travel to fargo, Grand forks for shopping sprees In both places I purchased mass amounts of fireworks we lit some off outside the hotel and were surrounded by police in a matter of minutes they gave us a warning probably because we were from Canada, but they never told us they were illegal to light they were just illegal to blow em off in the city limits ( these were bottle rockets m80's cherry bombs etc, not the average fireworks. But after they told us it was wrong they said we could travel down this one road it leads out of the city and we could blow as many off as we wanted so we did no harm.
Then a couple years after that I was in Shokepee(spelling) Minnisota at Valley fair and I had lit off one lil red cracker firework and threw it at my buddie, in a matter of seconds I had security and police with guns drawn on me it was kinda scary they were right pissed gave me a warning after they found out im from Canada no citation no charges just made me hand over my pocket full of firecrackers.

In Canada here we can't even sell the lil firecrackers but we can sell the big fireworks because the firecracker packages don't have any french warning labels for our french speaking ignoramouses to read. We cannot sell or distribute them here in Canada which I think is just plain stupid, if a french person cannot speak/read english then thats his purogative, it shouldn't ruin it for everyone else that can comprehend proper english warnings.
If we could sell firecrackers here in Canada I would be the first to distribute them by the millions

Ah, IM sorry to hear about your troubles OP...

But this is just another example of how backwards and screwy this world really is...
Fireworks they are okay to buy and sell, but once you light them its trouble.. Hmmm sound like anything else?
Drugs are basiclly legal here, lets face it people, if you smoke pot, you know where you can go pick up a sack right? I know if I wanted something I could go out and get it no problem..
Its made this way.. They allow the drugs to come in.. Then once you get caught thats when you must "pay" them money. Turn in your drugs to the cops, they take the drugs, and then resell it to drug dealers and it all starts over agin...
He was right, he is only a pawn.. And he doesnt care about you or me.
He only cares that he does his job gets his paycheck at the end of the week.. THese cops are not doing anything getting this off the streets,
they are the ones putting it on the streets in the first place!!!
There are few people who can see whats going on.. But this whole firework deal just made it clear to me, that its not only drugs they do this with, but fireworks aswell... its creepy, and downright wrong.. How can these criminals lords get away with this kinda of catch 22 BS!!!

Originally posted by zysin5
Its made this way.. They allow the drugs to come in.. Then once you get caught thats when you must "pay" them money. Turn in your drugs to the cops, they take the drugs, and then resell it to drug dealers and it all starts over agin

You seem to be watching way too many tv shows and movies. It's truly sad.

If it makes you feel any better I put a decent size crater into west texas.

duct tape + artillery shells + sparklers = omgrun4yolives!!!