# Telling cops about drugs, unofficially **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-cops-about-drugs-unofficially/169860 "2003-04-20T15:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-cops-about-drugs-unofficially/169860/1 "2003-04-20T15:49:59Z")
I was telling my friends last night about how surprised I was at the amount of drug use/underage drinking going on right there on campus. After a somewhat meandering discussion, a question arose. Say I was talking to someone who I knew was a cop, but who was not in uniform, not on duty. If I were to mention (casually) that a friend or I were somehow engaged in the recreational use of illegal substances (even, say, being supplied with alcohol [as I and most of my friends are underage still], or buying/smoking pot), wouldl the cop be obligated to do something? Example: I’m talking to this police officer who is not on duty about a party, where mutual acquantiances (sp?) were present, and I say something along the lines of “Oh, yeah…Friend X and Friend Y got totally stoned there…” Would the cop be obligated by law to take some sort of action on this? Would the situation be different if someone was supplying/selling, rather than just using? ---
**Author:** ![Dana27](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Dana27](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dana27)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-cops-about-drugs-unofficially/169860/2 "2003-04-20T16:17:35Z")
I have wondered the same type of thing. First of all most of the officers I have asked have said that they would just ignore something like small time like drugs at a party or underage drinking. I think every cop in the world knows there’s underage drinking and drug use at every campus in American but they don’t seek it out. I’ve known some officers who use drug dogs and I asked them what they would do if just on a routine walk around the block (most keep their dogs at home as pets) the dog picked up a scent on a passing jogger or other person walking around the neighborhood. Again the overwhelming response was they would just let it slide. Of course if you were talking about arms shipments or something of that magnitude it would be different. It seems to me they could use that information if they wanted too, but maybe don’t have to use it if they don’t want too. Most seemed to say if there wasn’t any big time trouble coming they would ignore it. So I’m not a cop, but that’s what the few I’ve asked have told me. Interesting, but also what I assumed they would say. I think it just comes down to personal judgement. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-cops-about-drugs-unofficially/169860/3 "2003-04-20T16:55:28Z")
Also, what can of action is a police officer even able to take if someone just says, “I did drugs once.” whether they’re on duty or not? ---
**Author:** ![Blueapple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Blueapple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blueapple)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-cops-about-drugs-unofficially/169860/4 "2003-04-20T19:02:58Z")
[About 3/5th of the way down](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2668385) > [@](#): > > Q: Is there an official policy on how to respond when off-duty and witnessing a crime? > > * * * > > My department’s official policy is that we should not get involved in enforcement while off-duty. That means getting physically involved, making any arrest, badging people and telling them what to do, etc. Trying to do law enforcement while off-duty is dangerous. You don’t have your vest, a radio, back-up, and while you probably have a gun and cuffs, you don’t have any of the other tools we use (pepper spray, baton, etc.). > > We are all trained that if we observe a crime in progress, the thing to do is report it and act as a professional witness. Get all the details to which most witnesses wouldn’t know to pay attention. > > As far as observing a minor crime among family or friends, I would just ignore most. If someone pulled out a joint with me there, I would probably either leave or take it away and flush it. Note: Sorry for the bad formatting. Also, it is a very interesting thread to checkout. ---
**Author:** ![cookeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@cookeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cookeze)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-cops-about-drugs-unofficially/169860/5 "2003-04-20T21:40:22Z")
IANAL, but as far as I understand the law, at least out here in California, absent a warrant, a cop cannot arrest you for a misdemeanor unless it is committed in his presence. (I read that in one of Vincent Bugliosi’s books, but don’t recall which one.) ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-cops-about-drugs-unofficially/169860/6 "2003-04-20T21:50:09Z")
At a local college they have students who live in the dorms that are responsible for calling the cops if they detect the odor of pot coming from one of the rooms. Why wouldn’t an off-duty cop do the same thing? As I recall, an off-duty cop once called in the real troops on me, but the off duty cop didn’t do anything himself. ---
**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-cops-about-drugs-unofficially/169860/7 "2003-04-20T23:46:21Z")
Watch Ricki Lake. All the time they have pimps, prostitutes, and drug dealers on it. Do cops ambush them as soon as they admit their crimes? Nope. Although that would be an interesting episode. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-cops-about-drugs-unofficially/169860/8 "2003-04-21T02:04:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PetW \* > \*\*Watch Ricki Lake. All the time they have pimps, prostitutes, and drug dealers on it. Do cops ambush them as soon as they admit their crimes? Nope. > Although that would be an interesting episode. \*\* I’d so watch TV talk shows if they were like that. “I was forced into a life of prostitution!” And then a swat team bursts in from backstage… ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-cops-about-drugs-unofficially/169860/9 "2003-04-21T02:36:51Z")
I have a story about just that. Me, and a couple of old high school buddies were playing golf about 9 years ago. One of them was a cop at that time. AFAIK, he still is. We got paired up with a couple of older guys (50 something). After a couple of holes. We notice that sweet aroma of weed. We look over to see those guys in the golf cart. One passing a doobie to the other. I get a big grin on my face. I look to my non-cop friend, then we look over to him. He just smiles and we keep on playing. The cop was off duty. He personally had no problem with it. Plus, we both knew when he was in high school he was quite the stoner. ---
**Author:** ![mixcoatl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@mixcoatl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixcoatl)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-cops-about-drugs-unofficially/169860/10 "2003-04-21T03:01:21Z")
Be advised, however, one very successful cop known for his high number of successful drug busts, would show up to a party in uniform. They would always ask if the music was too loud, to which he would respond that he wanted to buy some “stuff.” Taken aback, he would then say that “It’s okay, I’m cool.” Most every time they would bring him some drugs and he would arrest them at the door. His opinion: “Stoners are stupid.” ---
**Author:** ![Phnord\_Prephect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@Phnord\_Prephect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phnord_Prephect)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2003, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/telling-cops-about-drugs-unofficially/169860/11 "2003-04-21T08:03:19Z")
I’m not a cop, but I’ve, er, met a few over the years. The ‘official’ word, as I’ve heard it, is that there is no situation whatsoever in which a police officer HAS TO do ANYTHING. A uniformed officer, on duty, in the squad car, with a drug dog, can watch a pimp bitch-slap his ho for shorting him on the bag of crack they both just watched her buy and smoke from. He is under no legal obligation to take any action at all. If this is true, there’s certainly no reason an off-duty, non-uniformed, officer, in his ‘free time’, would be OBLIGATED to take action against anyone for any reason. They do it because they want to.