Contact with Police officers/Sheriff etc

I don't recall ever having an issue. Remember that police are people. If you are act sketchy or weird, you will attract bad attention. If you don't, you probably won't.
 
When I was a kid the Canadian Police had the ability for what the slang term was "fishing". They could stop you at any time and search you without a reason. As a kid I'd get searched on a regular basis because I lived in a bad area.
Many of the cops were ok with my little sak. But every now and then I'd get one that really hated me having it. They would give me a stern warning but they always handed it back.
But turned out "fishing" was against our constitution and they banned that practice. Haven't been searched for over 20 years since then.
 
Watch the TV show Cops. It'll teach what not to do. You'll learn that you can be cool as ice, but since the Supreme Court decided LEO didn't need probable cause to search you for weapons, good chance you'll be searched if stopped. Be legal.
 
Aside from a very unpleasant interaction with a CHP officer while driving through Northern California, I've never had any issues with cops. Here in Oregon, we have pretty decent gun and knife laws (for the time being anyway) and generally the only times that I have heard of cops getting their jimmies in a twist over certain things is due to them being out-of-state lateral hires and not being as familiar with Oregon's laws as they should be.

General rule of thumb - Don't be a dick. Also - know your local and state laws. Another "also" - Even if you think/know the cop is wrong, the time to argue with them is not on the street, it's in front of a judge.

I got pulled over once for a taillight that kept shorting out. I had Noveske and Magpul stickers on the back. One cop took my info and went back to run it and his partner hung out with me and we chatted about guns, what our dream builds were, etc. A very positive experience. One's mileage can always vary - or so the saying goes.
 
About 12-14 years ago when I was still doing NYC utilities management and taking the subway to a site when I was stopped by a plain clothes officer who saw my clip. He had kind of reached for my pocket before identifying himself which gave me the jump back but after explaining was more of a curiosity thing and he told me straight to just keep it in my tool bag to avoid trouble, way easier than it could have gone considering it was a Mini Grip. I never really understood why they would sell it at the local hardware stores when its clearly not one that you're "allowed" to carry around the city.
 
For the most part, "Don't be a dick" and you're good to go in most jurisdictions. But do know your knife laws in your state or whatever states and cities you frequent. LEO's have a great deal of latitude and suspected intent is critical. In my area, I wouldn't carry a sword down main street, even if it's legal to do so. I would place machetes in that category unless you have a specific use for it.
 
The last person I showed my double edged OTF Combat Troodon to was a CHP that I had never met until that day. He said it was cool and wanted one until I told him what they cost. Just don't be a dick. YMMV
 
James Y said:
I know exactly why lawmakers soured on throwing stars. Back in the mid-1980s, there was a well-known karate tournament fighter (often featured in Karate Illustrated and Official Karate magazines) from Amherst, MA, named Larry Kelley who also worked for the US postal service, and he noticed there was a loophole that allowed martial arts weapons like shuriken (AKA “throwing stars”), nunchaku (AKA “nunchucks”) and manrikigusari (AKA “fighting chains”) to be sent through the mail. He lobbied in front of Senator Ted Kennedy to ban them. IIRC, nunchaku had already been illegal to carry for years at the time. Kelley was convinced that these martial arts weapons spelled doom for the nation’s kids. This was due to the popularity of ninja movies at the time. After he succeeded with his campaign, he was pretty much blackballed from appearing in the martial arts magazines.

If he were still alive today and still working for the postal service, I wouldn’t be surprised if he would try to ban the sale of one-hand opening knives through the mail, if he became aware of them.

As for if I’ve ever been bothered by a cop for a knife? Never. And i carry folders of any size up to just over 4” blade lengths. The only time an officer of any type has ever brought up one of my knives is when I was visiting Health and Human Services and about to go through a metal detector, the guard manning the detector saw my pocket clip and said, “Sir, if that’s a knife, you’ll have to take it back to your car. Knives are restricted beyond this point.” Which is perfectly understandable. I’d forgotten that the knife was there. The knife in question was a CRK small Inkosi.

Jim
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When I was a kid about 8 or 9 growing up in Arkansas in the 1970s, all the kids had “nunchucks” and rode our bikes around with them over the handlebars. A police officer in a cruiser stopped us and said “Cool nunchucks, do you know how to work them?” Times have changed…
 
I have posted on this blog before about whipping out an Endura to open a part while at the Sheriff
dept. One asked me "is that a Spyderco?" A very enjoyable conversation ensued since he was also
a hardcore blade enthusiast. So much fun. The guys were really nice to me.

I have bigger problems with some others at work...I now carry a Lil Native at work so
even knife phobic tards are not too triggered. I carry much larger stuff on the weekend
which would no doubt horrify them. (ZT 0452, ZT 0462, Benchmade Infidel, Spyderco
Police 3, 4...etc.
 
This is not knife related...but still illustrative. While shooting at a local range I ran
into a female LEO practicing to qualify. She was shooting a Glock and I offered her
a chance to try my SAO Legion P226...which she accepted. She really enjoyed it
and shot a much better group with it than her duty weapon. She really liked it.
It was a fun conversation and interaction.

Getting along with others is easy if you act like a nice person. It goes a long way.
 
I used to live in Southern California (not LA, thank goodness!) and in spite of the snowflakes, there were essentially no legal restrictions on folders.

I used to enjoy using my EDC at the local burrito emporium. When I deployed it, it usually raised some eyebrows...when I halved my burrito down to a manageable size, I’d get a jealous nod from folks (the burritos in this place were HUGE).

Anyhow, no encounters with the SoCal constabulary.

Now I live in western Montana. It would look suspicious if I DIDN’T have a knife on me.
 
I live in San Diego. I've had interactions with San Diego PD and the Sheriffs. (my car was stolen and my daughter was in an auto accident.) In both cases I had a knife clipped to my back pocket as I talked to the officers. No questions asked. Not even a raised eyebrow.

Most of California has pretty loose restrictions on what you can carry. As long as you aren't waving around an open blade or being combative, carrying a knife is not a problem.

sgt1372 summarized the laws very well.

sgt1372 said:
I'm a retired LEO and seldom have any LEO contacts but they are usually quite cordial when I do.

FWIW, in CA, there are 2 levels law to consider relating to the possession of a knife in public.

Under state law:

1) It is legal to openly carry any fixed blade knife of any length that categorized as a "dirk or dagger" but it is illegal to carry any such knife concealed.
2) It is legal to carry any folding knife regardless of length concealed as long as it is closed; if it is open, the fixed blade rule applies.
3) It is illegal to carry an automatic knife greater than 2" in length concealed or a butterfly knife regardless of length or means of carry; if the auto is open, the fixed blade rule applies.
4) It is also illegal to carry any dirk dagger or locking folder greater than 2.5" in length on the grounds of any K-12 school or college/university, regardless of the means of carry.

Under local law:

The rules vary depending on the jurisdiction but it is common to limit the length of any knife (fixed or folding) to 3" or less. Otherwise, state rules apply.
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Never, but I always follow the law and don't go making any kind of trouble in my little rural NorCal town anyways.

I was stopped once last year when my brother was visiting with a couple friends and we all went down to the old dried up canal to see what kind of good junk people had tossed there, we were stopped because apparently it's become a common spot for drug use ( makes me sick what this little town is becoming ) .
He knew me and simply asked to see ID's, didn't ask about my belt knife or the pocket clips showing on everyone else.

Just don't do anything that'll get you stopped and if you do get stopped don't act nervous because you have a knife on you, chances are if it can be seen at all they see it and will bring it up If they feel the need.
 
I am a former LEO. I, we, have never pulled over or encountered a person or persons, with a knife on his or her person, unless we pat them down. We usually do not look down there unless they are tweaking, or smell something, or have PC from something.
Most Cops in So. Cal, carry Spydercos but some carry autos, cause they can.
 
Hickory n steel said:
.....Just don't do anything that'll get you stopped and if you do get stopped don't act nervous because you have a knife on you, chances are if it can be seen at all they see it and will bring it up If they feel the need.
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LEO's are trained to see signs of weapons on a person without actually asking you about it. I was in a Bass Pro at the gun counter area and the guy behind to counter commented on my belt which happened to be a handmade belt to support the weight of a handgun. He asked if I was carrying; I wasn't. BP was a part time job for him being a LEO. The point is he noticed the belt which was made to support a handgun.
 
Some yrs back my mom hit a deer.. As I was taping the front valance on a local LEO rolled up.. I was using duct tape and cutting it with a Para 2.. He commented on my knife so I handed it to him as he wanted to have a look.. Said he liked it and wanted to get one.. I handed mine to him and told him it was his..:D He was flabbergasted and thanked me many times..:thumbsup:
John
 
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Follow local laws and be polite. Most officers will not really care about a pocket knife unless you are acting weird or have a bad attitude and demeanor when you interact with them.
A pocket knife should be in a pocket unless it is actively being used to cut something. Sitting in a Starbucks opening and closing your AO knife repeatedly would be weird, but taking it out to open na en elope and putting it away would be normal. I always go out for coffee to open my mail.
 
I've never been hassled by a LEO over a knife but I have had them tell me multiple times that the pocket clip doesn't count as being visible so keeping a folder clipped in your pocket could be considered "concealed".

Again they've never confronted me about it, just casually mentioned that it could be an issue with another officer having a bad day and looking for a reason to bust you (yes even cops realize there are bad cops out there).
 
sgt1372 said:
I'm a retired LEO and seldom have any LEO contacts but they are usually quite cordial when I do.

FWIW, in CA, there are 2 levels law to consider relating to the possession of a knife in public.

Under state law:

1) It is legal to openly carry any fixed blade knife of any length that categorized as a "dirk or dagger" but it is illegal to carry any such knife concealed.
2) It is legal to carry any folding knife regardless of length concealed as long as it is closed; if it is open, the fixed blade rule applies.
3) It is illegal to carry an automatic knife greater than 2" in length concealed or a butterfly knife regardless of length or means of carry; if the auto is open, the fixed blade rule applies.
4) It is also illegal to carry any dirk dagger or locking folder greater than 2.5" in length on the grounds of any K-12 school or college/university, regardless of the means of carry.

Under local law:

The rules vary depending on the jurisdiction but it is common to limit the length of any knife (fixed or folding) to 3" or less. Otherwise, state rules apply.
Click to expand...

There is a little more:
- no more than 4" blades within state or local public buildings (for example, no Police 4 if you have to go to the DMV)
- only slippies with < 2.5" blade on school or university property (say, if you have to drop your kid off)
- also, the pocket clip of your folder might count as open carry

For the occasional speeding ticket that I get (rare enough to be able to avoid points with traffic school), most CHP that I've met in CA are good guys. There is usually initial apprehension because I'm a big guy riding a bike, but after some initial words are exchanged and as long as I don't use my cell phone, CHPs are usually cordial. Sheriff deputies in my county are great, actually.

But do remember, my fellow Californians, Sheriffs are elected. That's all that I will say on the subject :)

Cheers,

Roland.
 
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