I had a hectic Labor day! The Moroccan guy who is renting a house above my lab (he has no access) set fire to his house!
In search of the main water valve the fire department stumbled on my lab, thinking it might be a drug lab they called the police.
At 11AM I got a call from the police chief asking me to come down to my lab. I got up and went over there, I met the police chief and he explained
what happened and that to close the case they needed to know what I was doing there, look in the cupboards and take a few tests.
I let them in and showed them around, explaining what I was doing, what things were etc. They took lots of tests but found nothing. I got a ride home
for coffee and they applauded me on my knowledge, interest in chemistry and safety (organized cupboards, fire extinguishers,...)
One of the things they said was that I had a large diversity in chems which proved I was doing legit chem.
I guess I gt very lucky that they were good cops, they even joked around about my salt bath:
Cop:''whats this white powder?''
Me:''That's salt''
C:''what for?''
M:''A salt bath, to conduct heat''
C:''so I can eat this?''
M:''I wouldn't, I could have all kinds of toxic residues in it''
C:''Can I have this for my mother-in-law?''
Zyklon-A - 4-5-2014 at 08:40
Ha! That's what the cops around here are like. I highly doubt I would get arrested, I'm cool with several police in my city. Some of them are even
critical thinkers!
I guess it's because I live in a rather small city.
Did they report anything or confiscate anything? Pyro - 4-5-2014 at 09:35
nope, As I said they gave me a ride home and I gave them coffee.
they didn't seem to notice the huge container of RP I had but did look in the poisons closet.
I was later told that they had never seen anything like that before and suggest I go for a career in chemistry.Chemosynthesis - 4-5-2014 at 14:40
I'm very glad to hear that went well. It sounds like you represented hobby chemistry very well in every respect, and it's nice to hear the police were
supportive of any potential future professional pursuits.violet sin - 4-5-2014 at 17:15
I second Chemosynthesis. always good to hear another amateur wasn't seen as a cook or crackpot. gives them something to remember next time they set
foot in a lab, instead of blind accusations of cookery. rock on Etaoin Shrdlu - 4-5-2014 at 17:20
I am glad to hear things went well. This is the kind of experience I would hope to have with the police if I ever had any.Texium - 4-5-2014 at 17:53
I am glad to hear things went well. This is the kind of experience I would hope to have with the police if I ever had any.
Same here! Not sure if the police officers in Texas are as lax as those in Belgium, particularly when it comes to chemicals. Hopefully I won't ever
have to find out.BobD1001 - 4-5-2014 at 20:40
Excellent to hear such an uplifting story! Again, as many members pointed out, thank you for representing our hobby so well! Very excellent to hear
that the applauded your efforts of self education, what a great story!woelen - 4-5-2014 at 23:16
This indeed is good to hear. Again a case, which supports my hypothesis that if you have sufficient different chemicals and have a tidy and
well-organized working place then police will see that you are not a drug cook.
If you have a lab with a lot of different things (glassware, equipment, safety gear, and chemicals) then they see that you spent a lot of money on
things which have no use in drug-making at all and that will be the most convincing thing, more so than whatever story you tell them.neptunium - 4-5-2014 at 23:40
very true....also i`ve been told that a lab note book helps a lot keeping notes and records of what we do is one of the best proof against whoever try
to make us look like no gooders!Tsjerk - 5-5-2014 at 03:30
Nice! I once had police in my lab after they came over for an attempted burglary. When he asked what the yellow powder in my fume-hood was I just
really quickly said it was 2,4,6-trinitrophenol and that it was a dye, he just replied I had an interesting hobby and they went away again.
[Edited on 5-5-2014 by Tsjerk]
[Edited on 5-5-2014 by Tsjerk]Pyro - 5-5-2014 at 06:46
That was one of their questions at the end:
Cop:It looks like this took quite a penny you invsted
Me:It does, but i got lots of stuff as a gift and second hand.
Now we know even more people in the police force!
They even suggested that I ask the Gent university if I could set up in one of their empty labs (I have to leave the cellar soon)neptunium - 5-5-2014 at 07:55
a friend of mine once said if you are somehow associated with a university or a college you could almost have anything you want at home they'll just
think you are a nerd or a weirdo .
thats funny how little details canmake you look either like a geek or a methcook/terrorist..The Volatile Chemist - 21-5-2014 at 17:57
Great to hear this! I've always been afeared of untrustworthy police, but that's only because I've only heard bad stories in the past. This is great!
I would never have wanted a policemen in my basement a few weeks ago. I let my lab get messy a while back. But I got a MUCH larger desk to work on
now, so everything's nice and organized. I think the age of the chemist matters, though. They'd trust a 25yr. old much more than a highschooler.Brain&Force - 21-5-2014 at 18:09
Can someone translate the text of the newspaper article?
