Confiscation of knives by police.

I once confiscated a large kukri from a mugger. I was only a civilian back then going through training for possible employment at the California Department of Corrections were some other LEA. I was also a bit of a wiseguy. An incident was reported to the Oakland Police Department. Someone, that someone being me, was being attacked by a knife wielding assailant and a couple of other people. The cops came quickly to the scene and the officer, a female plainclothes officer, was very surprised with the action I had taken. There was blood on the ground, but no assailants anywhere, only me. I explained to her that I did not use the knife on my assailant, just punched him in the nose and disarmed him, and then smacked him and his friends a few side with the dull edge of the blade to scare them. I was planning to take the knife home. I wanted to add it to my collection. She said she would have to take it in as evidence, and that she knew who the assailant was - she was going to arrest him. Until the incident with me the assailant and his friends were known boosters but I've never resorted to armed robbery as far as anyone knew. Then again, I guess their drug habit was getting more expensive. I said to the officer that I would be happy to help with the prosecution, so long as I could pick up my knife from the property room after all is said and done. This is downtown Oakland, right near 14th St. & Madison, and there are not too many people who like to come forward as witnesses. I said what was probably going to happen is the perpetrator's lawyer is going to plead it down anyway, so the knife will not be needed in evidence - if this happens, can I please pick it up? We talked for a while, the details of which I will not bore you. Two weeks later I walked down to the property room, which is in the same building as the Alameda County Courthouse, and I picked up my knife - a large old-school Cold Steel kukri with a rubber handle. I even took the sheath that was in my assailants waistband. Walking home from the courthouse with my new knife, a couple of Oakland police officers stopped me, they saw the impression of the weapon in the plastic bag I was carrying and decided to detain me for a "routine stop." They wanted to confiscate the knife, and I wanted to keep my prize. They did not believe my story, and when I insisted they call the property room, which by the way is not an easy thing to insist upon since Oakland cops or a very tough heartened lot, but the officer obliged, he also said that he was personally going to pick my jail cell when he finds out that I am lying. He told me all he was going to do was confiscate the weapon but now I had raised the bar. So now I am now sitting on my knees facing a wall, my hands cupped behind my head, with the officer's partner's nightstick gently resting on my C6 vertebrae. The officer soon exited his car, and while doing so said "let the kids stand up," which I did. He walked over, shook my hand and said, "the LT himself said to let you go (pronouncing it el tee). I was very grateful I been allowed to keep my knife, I felt I had earned it.

I did various functions in law enforcement for the next seven years. My advice, always give up the weapon. Get a chain of custody receipt. Make sure that, if you're being insistent, that you are around people who can act as witnesses for you. Quite often officers do not want to take the time to give you a receipt, and will just keep the weapon in their collection or added to property. They're not trying to steal your knife, they just figure that a lot of people carry these weapons illegally because they are afraid, and all too often will either use it or eventually have it used on them. Anyway be careful, many municipalities allow cops discretion on whether they considere a weapon to be deadly, and whether or not you're carrying it legally or not. For example, where I grew up in the Bronx, most deadly attacks with a knife were done by kitchen or household utility knives. If you were carrying a nice knife to show to friends, keep it in a bag or somewhere where you cannot quickly access it. I used to carry martial arts weapons all over New York City in a gym bag wrapped in a towel. Stop n frisk was nothing new in the outer boroughs at the time, especially the Bronx, parts of Queens and Brooklyn. The point I am making though, is that I had any weapon or potential weapon wrapped up in such a way so as not to be something that could be immediately employed. Where I live in Arizona, so long as one has a clean record and arenot currently on probation or on parole, that person can carry just about any weapon. The Constitution is our gun permit for example. For those of you living in large cities, say on the coasts where the Midwest, just make it seem like you're not trying to carry a concealed weapon, but are simply transporting a knife legally. If you are driving to baseball practice and you have the bat in the trunk of your car rather than on the passenger seat that will go over better too. In other words, familiarize yourself with your local laws and use common sense. If you are going to assert your right to carry any weapon against a cop's discretion in confiscating it, the benefit of the doubt will usually be given to the cop. The courts will back up the cop until you get to a higher appellate level and that will be expensive.
 
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you can not carry any type of knife on va property and they will do something about it too. I am very happy that he let put it in my truck.
 
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but I didn't get arrested. The other person did or do you need to read the post again? so please explain what I did that was useless??

Try reading comprehension, dude.
I was making a joke about how dumb the actions of the other guy (and others like him) are.

Reading...it gets you the information.
Try it.
 
I've been stopped in CA a couple of times for whatever reason. My tailgate window on my 4Runner is tinted, I always roll it down before the cars have stopped to let him see in inside and how many people are inside. Before cop has a chance to say anything I politely say: "Sir, before we get started I need you to know I'm on my way to the store to get my knife sharpened we're going camping on the weekend. The knife is located xxx"

It seems (knock on a wood scale) to work I've never had an issue folder or fixed blade.
 
I've been wondering for a while and I just never thought to ask here, but if a cop wants to confiscate your knife and your knife is within legal parameters, should you allow him to do so? I'm not trying to come off as a dick, and understand that if an officer confiscates your knife there's probably a good reason for it, but if you were carrying around, for example, an expensive custom knife and you get pulled over in a bad area and it's routine for the officer to do pat downs in that area, should he be allowed to take said knife if it's legal? I've never been in this situation myself and don't really plan on being in it, I'm just curious as to if you could politely inform the officer that it's legal, and keep it.

What do you think will happen if you don't "allow" him to take it? The cop has a badge, a gun, and the authority to take your life. If you don't "allow" him to take your knife, the cop can arrest you and then claim that you "assaulted" him. Who will the judge and the DA believe, you or the cop? This happens all the time.
 
The system is currently stacked against you. You've got better odds of going to Las Vegas and actually beating the house.
 
I understand what you are saying and I agree with you but let's be realistic. If you are forced to fight the police, you have already lost.

This discussion reminds me of a debate you see on gun forums all the time. "What would you do if they start going door to door confiscating legally owned firearms?" Everyone talks about how they will never give up their 2nd Amendment rights but if that day comes 99% of the people will not resist. Someone who has a job, a family, a good reputation, and many other reasons not to end up dead or in prison will not resist even if their rights are being violated and the authorities know that.
Europe's Jewish population found that out the hard way so many years ago. They followed Hitler's gun control laws and paid a heavy price for it. Recently, over 1,700 Iraqi soldiers surrendered their arms and were massacred by Sunni insurgents. Give up your gun and die. Or, fight and take some of the enemy with you. And I mean all enemies, foreign and domestic.
 
Europe's Jewish population found that out the hard way so many years ago. They followed Hitler's gun control laws and paid a heavy price for it. Recently, over 1,700 Iraqi soldiers surrendered their arms and were massacred by Sunni insurgents. Give up your gun and die. Or, fight and take some of the enemy with you. And I mean all enemies, foreign and domestic.

If you really believe this is the best course of action available then feel free to practice what you preach. And be sure to let us know how well that worked out for you. Otherwise stop being an arm chair general, shut up, and accept the fact that your sovereignty was stolen from you decades before you were ever born, and society as a whole has no intention of ever letting you have it back.
 
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What do you think will happen if you don't "allow" him to take it? The cop has a badge, a gun, and the authority to take your life. If you don't "allow" him to take your knife, the cop can arrest you and then claim that you "assaulted" him. Who will the judge and the DA believe, you or the cop? This happens all the time.
This happens all the time? Really? Lol, Man, I don't know where some of you people live, but you need to move if that's how "all" the police act around there..., damn, lol!
 
Europe's Jewish population found that out the hard way so many years ago. They followed Hitler's gun control laws and paid a heavy price for it. Recently, over 1,700 Iraqi soldiers surrendered their arms and were massacred by Sunni insurgents. Give up your gun and die. Or, fight and take some of the enemy with you. And I mean all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Le Point Godwin. We started out requesting a reciept which you're legally entitled to, and you are now advocating civil war using minimally tangential hyperbole from histories monsters.

And, if you had bothered to do your damned homework, you would have discovered that the 1938 German Weapons Act only prohibited Jews (and IIRC, others considered "Untermensch") and not the population as a whole from owning guns.
 
This happens all the time? Really? Lol, Man, I don't know where some of you people live, but you need to move if that's how "all" the police act around there..., damn, lol!
I'm with you, this is amazing to me, I didn't know so many people were getting used and abused by LE. I guess I need to start reading the paper more.

A badge and a gun doesn't make them an executioner, hell pulling your gun involves paperwork, shooting someone involves stacks of paperwork.
 
I'm with you, this is amazing to me, I didn't know so many people were getting used and abused by LE. I guess I need to start reading the paper more.

A badge and a gun doesn't make them an executioner, hell pulling your gun involves paperwork, shooting someone involves stacks of paperwork.

Well the paper work does deter them from over exerting their power. Plus even when they do, 9.99 times out of 10, the system and sheeple will back them up even when they're clearly wrong. I suggest you both start reading the paper more...
 
Well the paper work does deter them from over exerting their power. Plus even when they do, 9.99 times out of 10, the system and sheeple will back them up even when they're clearly wrong. I suggest you both start reading the paper more...
I was being sarcastic, I don't need to read the paper more. I think a lot of the people in this thread do tho.

Just because someone worries constantly about the "Man" confiscating his property doesn't mean it happens. NY maybe, but it's not the rule it's the exception.
The country doesn't bring in people from other countries to be cops, they are the people that live next door or across the street.
I don't see a lot of links to the "Man" taking property from citizens in this or other threads, I have seen criminals get arrested and loose their property, but they were probably just being oppressed by the "Man" right?

I think a bunch of people have some severe problems with authority.
Good luck.
 
I was being sarcastic, I don't need to read the paper more. I think a lot of the people in this thread do tho.

Just because someone worries constantly about the "Man" confiscating his property doesn't mean it happens. NY maybe, but it's not the rule it's the exception.
The country doesn't bring in people from other countries to be cops, they are the people that live next door or across the street.
I don't see a lot of links to the "Man" taking property from citizens in this or other threads, I have seen criminals get arrested and loose their property, but they were probably just being oppressed by the "Man" right?

I think a bunch of people have some severe problems with authority.
Good luck.

Actually if you read up on the civil forfeiture laws in New York, depriving other people of their property is actually the rule instead of the exception.
 
Actually if you read up on the civil forfeiture laws in New York, depriving other people of their property is actually the rule instead of the exception.
New York isn't the center of the universe or the cultural center of the US, the laws of NY have zero to do with where I live or where most people live for that matter.
I've been there a few times and didn't have any trouble. I think,(just my opinion) that a lot of what you hear about the "Man" took my knife for no reason is just their opinion not the whole truth. I'm not saying that the police report is the end all be all to the truth, but from my experience it's somewhere in the middle.
So instead of "Oh my god that cop just took my knife for no reason" it's usually "I was doing something I shouldn't be doing/I was somewhere I shouldn't have been with a knife" and the cop took my knife, and I was to drunk to get a receipt for it.

I could be wrong, This could be a communist country where oppression is the rule instead of the exception and all you guys are freedom fighters.

Instead of just thinking everything you read is wrong unless it tells you the cops and Gov. are in the wrong, read both sides and then go out there and see what they have to deal with, but I'm sure you've already done that.

Stay away from the "Man".
 
Well the paper work does deter them from over exerting their power. Plus even when they do, 9.99 times out of 10, the system and sheeple will back them up even when they're clearly wrong. I suggest you both start reading the paper more...
It's not the paperwork that deters police from "over exerting their power" it's their morals. Most have them, some are a bit lacking. But those lacking a moral compass are the exception, not the rule. But as with any group of people, even the good ones make mistakes and are judged accordingly. It doesn't make all LEOs bad or corrupt anymore than a few pedophile preists(who should be locked up forever, IMO) make all priests dirty old men. Police have mountains of paperwork on a daily basis anyway, so a couple extra pages makes little to no difference at all.

And I, unlike some others, am speaking from experience. I am a LEO, and know hundreds of other LEOs, but I've also been arrested twice(before becoming a cop of course). So I've seen both sides of law enforcement, and have never been treated poorly, but I also made it a point to treat the cop with respect. I try to live by the whole give respect to get respect mantra, and it seems to work. Maybe those with such horrible dealings with the police should give it a go.

The court of public opinion is harder on police than any other occupation I've ever seen, and rightly so in many cases. But, what continually amazes me is the incorrect perception that all cops went into the profession to bully others or purposely do so on a daily basis. It's simply not the case. Most of the guys and girls I work with are no different than a those in any other occupation. We put or clothes on the same way, go to work to make a buck(and hopefully do some good in the process), and enjoy a few cold ones with friends on our weekends off.

And, since we're talking about property rights, 99% percent of the LEOs I know are very strong supporters of the second amendment and individual rights. Although, this could be attributed to the rural area I live in having mainly conservative political views. But I think any police organization is representative of their local population.

Get to know a few cops, or at the very least do your own research, before judging and entire profession by the few bad people in the profession.
 
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It's not the paperwork that deters police from "over exerting their power" it's their morals. Most have them, some are a bit lacking. But those lacking a moral compass are the exception, not the rule. But as with any group of people, even the good ones make mistakes and are judged accordingly. It doesn't make all LEOs bad or corrupt anymore than a few pedophile preists(who should be locked up forever, IMO) make all priests dirty old men. Police have mountains of paperwork on a daily basis anyway, so a couple extra pages makes little to no difference at all.

And I, unlike some others, am speaking from experience. I am a LEO, and know hundreds of other LEOs, but I've also been arrested twice(before becoming a cop of course). So I've seen both sides of law enforcement, and have never been treated poorly, but I also made it a point to treat the cop with respect. I try to live by the whole give respect to get respect mantra, and it seems to work. Maybe those with such horrible dealings with the police should give it a go.

The court of public opinion is harder on police than any other occupation I've ever seen, and rightly so in many cases. But, what continually amazes me is the incorrect perception that all cops went into the profession to bully others or purposely do so on a daily basis. It's simply not the case. Most of the guys and girls I work with are no different than a those in any other occupation. We put or clothes on the same way, go to work to make a buck(and hopefully do some good in the process), and enjoy a few cold ones with friends on our weekends off.

And, since we're talking about property rights, 99% percent of the LEOs I know are very strong supporters of the second amendment and individual rights. Although, this could be attributed to the rural area I live in having mainly conservative political views. But I think any police organization is representative of their local population.

Get to know a few cops, or at the very least do your own research, before judging and entire profession by the few bad people in the profession.
I agree. And well said.

Bad cops will do bad things because under the uniform they are bad people, and no amount of paperwork will deter them. Bad cops can find ways around paperwork, after all, they're BAD COPS, they don't follow procedure.

Good cops are motivated by the fact that they are good people. And paperwork or no paperwork they will do good because they are good people.

And sometimes even good cops make mistakes, because they are only human. We all make mistakes.

For what it's worth, I have experience with more LEO's than I could possibly count. Between the cops I know personally, the ones I have encountered on the street, and all the Sheriffs deputies I encountered in jail (and that's a lot), the vast majority were good people. Some I would describe as great people because I've had the chance to get to know them personally. In jail, I was truly surprised at how decent some of the deputies were to the inmates, even going out of their way to help inmates when they could just as easily said "F you scumbag".

I also have a few experiences with bad cops. And as bad as some of those experiences were, I prefer not to dwell on them because those experiences are in the minority.

Just for the hell of it, here's a story from my time in jail about a very decent cop- There was this one deputy who was a major ahole, and he started going off on an inmate in the mess hall, and in front of most of the jail population. Another deputy who knew that the ahole dep was in the wrong stepped forward in defense of the inmate. The ahole dep, realizing he was wrong had no choice but to back down. Now that second dep could just as easily stayed out of it and kept his mouth shut. But he was a decent guy, he saw someone being mistreated, and was willing to go against a fellow deputy to help the CRIMINAL out. And he did it in front of everybody. It was truly an impressive sight to behold.

Cops are people. And you will find good and bad in any group of people. Assuming that all cops, or most cops are bad, is no different than assuming that all knife owners, or most knife owners, are criminals.
 
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