What would you do?

J

joe__johnson

Joined
Apr 5, 2000
Messages
13
If stopped by a law emforcement officer on a general traffic stop for speeding and searched for officer safety reasons what would you do. I carry a Emerson Commander only. What should I say if he or she asks me why I have the knife?
 
As long as you are not breaking any state carry laws, it shouldn't be an issue. However, I know what you mean. I would say that in the course of a day at work I generally open about a dozen large boxes with it, in addition to cutting bindings on palletized materials, etc. Or...I might just throw it on the passenger seat before I stopped and say I keep it in the vehicle in case of emergency.
 
Joe,

I have insider knowledge of this situation. Keep a few things in mind. In my state most stops are infractions (broken taillights, no turn signal, speeding, etc), not criminal, so they do not automatically give an officer the right to search or frisk you; however, this varies by state. If you are giving off suspicious behavior, though, you may get frisked.
There are a few things you can do. You can be upfront and tell the officer you carry a knife daily and have one on you, but you will keep your hands where he can see them, etc. (This is also generally recommended when carrying firearms concealed, and legally). Or, you can just say nothing and stay relaxed and don't act more nervous than you would if you weren't carrying. DO NOT MAKE ANY OBVIOUS MOVE TO HIDE IT! This will get you pulled out every time. As far as tossing it to the passenger seat, I wouldn't (would you do that with a concealed pistol?) It is still considered constructive possession, and if the officer sees the movement, out you come for a frisk.
Finally, know that some officers are more uptight than others, and they all have personal guidelines they work under as well. And, frankly, some do not know all the laws, which is understandable (there are a lot). Most I meet are adament that my state has a maximum legal length for knives, but no such law exists. Our law refers only to how a "dangerous weapon" is displayed or used.
I hear this kind of question a lot. Unfortunately, there is no one way to guarantee nothing will happen, because there are so many variable between states, agencies, and individual officers. But I hope this helps.

-Scott
 
Don't do anything suspicious and you'll be fine.



[This message has been edited by LongRifle (edited 04-29-2000).]
 
Thank you for all your input. I do not look
suspicious in my opinion but I am 19. I have the highest respect for law enforcement officers and wanted to know how to handle a sticky situation not get arrested or shot. Thank you to those who gave a reasonable response. Joe
 
In response to my last post Joe is my neighbor. The two of us both have often wondered what the proper way to handle a situation involving a knife would be. I am reluctant to carry the knife sometimes for fear that I would be arrested. Although I know I would have no reason to be suspected of anything or even stopped for anything. I should add that I as well have the utmost respect for police officers.
 
If you are confronted by a law enforcement officer and the matter of being frisked comes up usually if you tell the officer that you do have a knife that will not be any problem ( here in Kansas you would not get any flack) usually the officer will take
the knife and return it back to you after the interview is over. (just remember to ask for it back ) What ever you do DO NOT stab the officer you will NOT like the results of what happens to you after that. Speaking as a police officer who has been stabbed I can attest to that fact.
 
I have to agree with the above statement.

Also as a Police Officer in the UK who has been stabbed, my assailant did not like the sudden and repeated strikes with my ASP which changed his attitude. He certainly would not have liked to have met the CQC6 that was tucked into my waistband.

As a general rule, if a Police Officer is going to search you, the first thing he will generally ask is 'Do you have anything on you that's sharp or has a blade'. If you do, TELL THEM, we'd then take it from you, carry on with whatever we were doing, then if you have a good reason for carrying it (you need that in the UK) I'd happily hand it back to you, wish you a good day and send you on your way. Everyone ends up happy that way.
 
The scary thing is that I have spoken with police officers who cannot tell me what the state laws are regarding the possession and carry of knives. The responses varied but they were all equally incorrect when compared to what's on the books in Florida.
One of the officers was a guy I met on location while he was pulling locations security. We were talking about knives in between set-ups and he told me that he could arrest me for having a pocket knife with a 2.5" in a pocket. Right or wrong, if I ran accross him under different circumstances I could possibly win a trip to the PD!
Alot can happen even when you are being a reponsible citizen. It all depends on the officer. I do know that a CCL really takes care the legality of such carry in Florida. This combined with informing the officer is the way to go.

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Usual Suspect
 
Yeah, kind of scary. I am a police officer in Washington and it surprises me how few of us understand our weapons laws, as I mentioned in my response above. I remember some time ago one of my partners took a thum stud opening knife off a guy and asked me if he should charge him with carrying it. I asked him to show me in the books where such a knife was illegal, but even then he didn't believe that it wasn't. The most common reply I hear is "I know I have seen it [the size restriction, etc] somewhere!" In defense of us, though, we usually know the laws of the areas have a serious interest in really well. For example, those who like doing drug enforcement know those laws really well, but might not be really familiar with traffic type stuff. So, really, it is hit or miss on whether you deal with an officer that has good knowledge of a given category of laws.

Why am I always so long winded?

-Scott

 
Scott,
I should mention that all of the officer's that I spoke to regarding knives are in fact competant, good guys. I think the main issue that throws officer's off in Florida is the lack of detailed codified law regarding the possession of and subsequent carry of knives. Florida is flexible regarding the possession of various types of knives. The real question is this: When does a knife that is carried on one's person become a weapon and thusly a concealed weapon. This is where the law is grey in my opinion. I went to the county courthouse for two afternoons and tried to find state laws regarding these issues. Not being a lawyer didn't help my cause but I really didn't find much the defines such issues.
It seems like it really is a matter of the events leading up to the officer's discovery of the knife in any given situation. For instance if a mild mannered carpenter is stopped for jaywalking and the officer notices the top of a buck 110 sticking out of his back pocket he would probably not make an issue out of it. If the jaywalking carpenter started getting arrogant, beligerant and verbally assualted the officer with comments questioning his manhood then Buck 110 could be an issue. *All characters and events described herein are fictious of course.*

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Usual Suspect

[This message has been edited by arkhamdrifter (edited 05-01-2000).]
 
Being an officer (Deputy Sheriff) myself, I obviously have nothing but respect for LE people as well, and it was not my intention to insult any one that is a member here. I was just trying to point out that with SO many laws on the books, (many of them quite senseless), it is difficult at best to be expert on them all. For this reason, we all have varying degrees of knowledge in different areas of law, resulting in different enforcement actions from officer to officer.

-Scott
 
Lucky you, living in the US. In Sweden you´d face a fine or even a trial. Unless you have a VERY good reason for carrying. I think the maximum sentance is 6 months in prison, but it usually result in fines. This goes for ALL knives no matter what size. The only place that you are allowed to carry a knife is in your own home & lawn. If you have a ligitamate (spelling?) reason (fishing, hunting, construction etc.) it´s ok to carry but it´s up to the court to decide what´s legitamate and what´s not.
 
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