Has anyone here ever been "busted" for the knife they were carrying?

scibeer said:
One thing to always remember is NEVER cop to having a "Weapon". If an officer asks you if have any weapon on you, DO NOT say yes and hand him your knife. It's an admission of guilt. Tell them NO, then tell them you do have a pocket knife you carry to use as a tool.

A cop stopped my brother who is an electrician and he had a foot long piece of cable laying on the floorboard. The cop joked with him that it looked like a good little billy club. As soon as my brother agreed, he was taken out of the car and searched which got him in a lot of trouble for other reasons. The search was considered legal because he admitted to having a weapon and it wasn't in plain view because it wasn't on the seat, it was on the floorboard with stuff around it that partially covered it. Total BS, but just goes to show you, you can't even joke about having a weapon these days. Kind of like talking about guns or explosives in an airport. Not a good idea!
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What I'm about to say is going to offend some people here. If you are an LEO that this doesn't apply to, then just ignore it. There are plenty of LEOs out there that this does apply to:

Middle-class America doesn't understand that the police ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS. They are there to do their job and their job is to write citations and arrest people. They profile everyone they see. If you fit a profile they are looking for, they view it as their duty to make your life hell. They will use any trick they can think of to get you to incriminate yourself or someone else. They have no problems lying to you if they think it will achieve their objectives. Do not call the police unless someone is about to die or has already died, otherwise their presence will only make whatever situation you are trying to resolve worse. If you have not experienced this, it is only because you don't fit one of their profiles or haven't had enough interaction with them. If you think you have no reason to fear the police, it only because you don't understand the situation.

Now I know I have just offended a lot of people here. Please understand I have experienced this firsthand. And not just once or twice. I've experienced this frequently enough to realize it is a pattern and not restricted to a few select police departments. I'm sure there are many good police officers out there and entire police departments that this doesn't apply to. I just haven't met very many of them and I've seen quite a bit of this country.
 
DeathByCactus,

I just have to say that your name is the funniest thing I've seen in a while. That's just too funny :D

LOL.
 
My friend almost got busted one night while we were fishing. While driving home late at night we got stopped by not 1, nor 2, but 3 cop cars in movie style fashion. I thought I was gonna be on COPS or something! They completely blocked the 2 lane state route with their vehicles and asked us the basics. The car was filled with fishing equipment so we weren't conspicuous, but the sheriff did ask if we had any firearms or knives. My friend said yes and showed him the tanto that we used to cut up shad with. The officer than proceded to harrass him and tell him how he knew it was an asian fighting knife and make him lean against the car etc. My friend then told the sheriff that he was neither asian nor fighting. Almost landed him in jail, but we weren't committing any crimes they let us go after about an hour. Thank goodness we cleaned the knife and it didn't still have blood on it.
 
buckg said:
What I'm about to say is going to offend some people here. If you are an LEO that this doesn't apply to, then just ignore it. There are plenty of LEOs out there that this does apply to:

Middle-class America doesn't understand that the police ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS. They are there to do their job and their job is to write citations and arrest people. They profile everyone they see. If you fit a profile they are looking for, they view it as their duty to make your life hell. They will use any trick they can think of to get you to incriminate yourself or someone else. They have no problems lying to you if they think it will achieve their objectives. Do not call the police unless someone is about to die or has already died, otherwise their presence will only make whatever situation you are trying to resolve worse. If you have not experienced this, it is only because you don't fit one of their profiles or haven't had enough interaction with them. If you think you have no reason to fear the police, it only because you don't understand the situation.

Now I know I have just offended a lot of people here. Please understand I have experienced this firsthand. And not just once or twice. I've experienced this frequently enough to realize it is a pattern and not restricted to a few select police departments. I'm sure there are many good police officers out there and entire police departments that this doesn't apply to. I just haven't met very many of them and I've seen quite a bit of this country.
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I, of course, have to ask if you just have had experience first hand because you're causing trouble or not?

I've never had your experience and I've had quite a lot of interaction with the local police. It's always been me trying to help out in different situations or calling the cops on someone else or whatever.

Not at all saying your view is wrong, but I'm wondering if it's a bit skewed.

So basically, don't call the cops for your neighbors loud stereo, or idiot kids that are suspicious 3 houses down, or whatever? Weird.
 
I'm not sure about cops trying to make your life hell, but many of them do seem to think they're above the law as long as they're enforcing it. A weird double standard, but seeing that many police and law enforcement are prior military I can see how it works out that way. The military isn't meant to have a presence in a civil sense even if they are wearing a civilian uniform. Too many law enforcement personnel act like they are still in the military and don't have to live by the laws they're trying to enforce.
 
Joe Dirt said:
I, of course, have to ask if you just have had experience first hand because you're causing trouble or not?

I've never had your experience and I've had quite a lot of interaction with the local police. It's always been me trying to help out in different situations or calling the cops on someone else or whatever.

Not at all saying your view is wrong, but I'm wondering if it's a bit skewed.

So basically, don't call the cops for your neighbors loud stereo, or idiot kids that are suspicious 3 houses down, or whatever? Weird.
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No, I wasn't causing trouble.

Here's an example, I've been pulled over to "see if I was wearing my seat belt." Was I speeding? No. Had I commited any traffic violation? No. Was I wearing my seat belt? Yes. Does the law allow police to pull people over for seat belt checks? No. Did I fit a profile? Yes.

I waved to a police officer. He snarled at me. I shook my head. He began to question me about who I was, what I was doing out at that hour of the night, etc. I was buying cigarettes. He said I looked intoxicated and frisked me. I hadn't been drinking. And no, I wasn't on drugs. Did I have anything illegal on me? No. Did I fit a profile? Yes.

I could go on. There other examples.

If your neighbor's stereo is too loud, tell them to turn it down. Suspicious people? I'd investigate it myself before I resorted to calling the police.
 
I've mostly had good relations with police, because I'm unfailingly polite. Since this is Utah, I always make sure that when a cop stops me on official business, the first thing I do is tell him something like: "Morning, Officer. Before anything else, Utah law requires me to inform you that I have a carry permit, and I'm carrying at the moment." Obviously, you don't bend over or make any other move that might look suspicious from behind, you keep your hands on the steering wheel, and if it's night, you turn on your interior lights. I've never had a moment's problem with that. They usually just ask where I've got it and that's that. Once a grouchy officer made me keep my hands on the wheel the entire time he had me pulled over.

The winner, though, was about twenty years ago when a cop (let's not say what city he worked for, okay? :) ) stopped my wife and I in a mall. I had on a five-inch sheath knife, openly displayed and perfectly legal. The first thing I heard was: "Where the fuck do you think you're going, Daniel Boone?" Since I've always looked about ten years younger than I really am, he'd taken me for a gang banger. Still, should he have been talking to a gangsta that way, either? When I answered politely and showed him my driver's license, he knew he'd gotten in too deep, so he just got ruder. It reached the point where I wrote down his badge number, and that of his partner. (704, if anyone gives a shit).

At that point he threatened to have both my wife and I arrested for 48 hours (which they can do; after that, they have to press charges or let you go). He promised us both full body-cavity searches and hinted at other fun they could have with us). At that point I said that maybe I ought to get in touch with my lawyer (bear in mind, this was in a crowded mall, and people were watching the whole thing). That's when he threatened to kill the two of us, saying that cops looked out for each other, and we'd never see the one who got us.

Well, I know when to fold 'em. Never wore that knife again. My wife almost had a nervous breakdown. Come to think of it, so did I. But as I said up front, lots of cops are good people just doing their jobs; I try not to give them any reason for anything. After all, every time one of them pulls you over and walks up to your car, he doesn't know if you're innocuous or if you're the one who's going to put a slug in his belly. And looking like an aging hippie will really set people off here in Utah. :eek:
 
Here's another example. My daughter was about two years old and made a 911 call. She was just playing with the phone. The 911 operator called back and we explained that it must have been our daughter playing with the telephone. Next thing we knew there was a police officer at the door. That much is understandable. However, when we explained that our daughter must have been playing with the phone, he demanded entry to see if anything was wrong and became angry and combative when we wouldn't let him in. I guess he suspected domestic violence or something. The whole family came to the door and explained that nothing was wrong. After much talking, he finally left threatening that the city would charge us for the 911 call and the police's time responding to the call.
 
Well I live in the UK

Obviously here you can get arrested for just thinking about a knife!

Recently the government announced that it was putting metal detectors in main line train stations to stop people carrying knives.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_obj...anners-at-every-train-station--name_page.html

I would love to know who these "thugs" are? Ive been travelling the tubes and trains for most of my life in London and Ive never seen anyone waving a knife.

When I was about 18 (15 yrs ago) and the Uk's knife laws were not quite so stupid, I was stopped and searched by the police. I freely admitted that I was carrying a 3" opinel which was quite legal at the time. They arrested me at gunpoint

(admittedly there had been an armed robbery around the corner. It wasn't me! but they were rather over excited!)

so having had an MP5 shoved in my face, been given a bit of a kicking and dragged by the cuffs through some brambles we all ended up down the station.

I convinced them I was nothing to do with the robbery. That just left the knife.

I explained that it was 3" and therefore totally legal. The police officer measured it (it was actually 2.9) and said that he made it 3" 1mm and I therefore had a choice. 1. I could give it to him to be destroyed and they would let me go. or 2. The hard way.......
I let them have it! Damn glad it wasn't a sebenza!

I used to work in a shop that sold leatherman tools in central London. A police oficer came in and bought a Wave. I asked him what the story was on multi tools with locking blades. He said that he thought they were great and always carried one but if he caught someone on the street with one he would arrest and charge them immediately!

The moral of this story is. Dont carry a knife of any description in the UK

(although sub 3" non locking folders are still legal, I would imagine the monkeys who will man the metal detectors will not appreciate the distinction and the Police will be called and all sorts of hassle will ensue. So in my mind better not to risk it!)


Pity we are not allowed non magnetic knives either!

:jerkit:
 
Once in highschool, (the metal detectors never went off on steel it seemed except for belt buckles and keys people had,) I would put on a pair of pants being morning and tired from the day before with a Kershaw or a Schrade for carving wood pieces for art at home. But being an early, former smoker, was busted for the tobacco, and also the tiny weightless Chive clipped to back pocket.. got it back that afternoon.

So, lightweight and concealable can get you in trouble afterall in rare circumstances- when you forget the blade is there, in a "weapon" free zone.
 
Hi, this is my first post. I just wanted to back up buckg about the police not being your friends.

A friend of mine became a cop about 4 years ago. He has really enlightened me on the way they look at situations and people. He has told me his main goal is not to help people, but to arrest people. He has also told me it is ok to lie to people to get them to admit to having drugs, or whatever so they can be arrested.

Now that my friend is a cop and I know more about police work, I would say, as a whole I like them less.
 
I just got home for an ordeal I hope none of you ever have to go through. I am a 60 yo disabled Vietnam vet(corpsman), husband ,father of 3 girls and grandfather and on 1NOV07 I was going home via Port Authority from the subway when I was approached by 2 of NY's finest and asked where I was going, it was then that one of the officers noticed the clip on my pocket.He said ,what's that, and I replied,my pocket knife, it was then that I was searched and arrested. I kept saying, "it's a pocket knife" but to no avail, I was handcuffed and treated like a common criminal. I was paraded around from station house to station house ,in public humiliation, and finally placed in a 5x7 cell where I would spend the next 20hours. I won't get into the details, like not being read any type of rights, no phone call until 5 hours later and being told I didn't need a lawyer when I asked for one. I was then manacled to a group of killers ,rapists and who knows what and put in a bull pen with them until my hearing. My 2 minutes with a public defender,convinced me to take the plea of disorderly person or I would be convicted and sent to jail for more time than I could take. I am now going to be cleaning the 59th and Lexington station for a while for my crime of carrying a pocket knife. This country is turning into a police state and I'm ashamed that I am living in a fascist country, where rights are just an illusion. Hk10036@aol.com
 
hk10036, sorry to hear about this happening to you. The enforcement of the knife laws by the NYPD has become very oppressive. What I also dislike it the fact that no one cares that the same knives are openly sold. You buy them and then when stopped, you are in jail while the store puts your money in the bank. There is a knife show in a few days in NYC that the average price of a folding knife will be several hundred dollars, and they will all be "gravity knives" by the way NYC sees it, but I am sure no one will care that some one from out of state will come to NYC and sell thousand of dollars worth of knives with no fear of being arrested ,but if you get stopped on the way home with the knife you just bought, it is jail for you....not fair by any means to me......I wish the law was sensibly enforced for those who lawfully carry a knife, but since it isn't, it then becomes more offensive to me that no one cares about the guys making money selling a knife that has been deemed illegal...maybe my morals are too high in this area....
 
hk10036,

Same thing just happened to me. I am a union stagehand in NYC and I regularly work on films , TV shows and theater. Anyone who has ever been backstage knows that there are miles of rope involved in any production. As such, all of us carry folding knives. Besides cutting rope, there are at least a hundred other legitimate uses for a folding knife in our business. The newest rage is assisted openers since they are easy to use when you are rigging and hanging a couple of hundred feet in the air, or holding a hank of line in your other hand. One evening while on my way home, I was confronted by two undercover officers who noticed my knife clipped to work shorts. I was arrested and ended up in the tombs like yourself. My Public Defender, however, convinced me to plead not guilty and hire a good attorney. He explained to me that if I pled guilty it would go on my record and every time I was stopped it would show up. I was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and this is a major red flag to any cop who ran my "record" when I got pulled over for a traffic stop, whatever. He also found it curious that if my knife was "concealed", how did the arresting officers see it? I am not aware of any Police Department issuing x-ray specs so it must have been visible. Anyway, I now have to hire an attorney and lose time from work in order to defend myself against ludicrous charges made by overzealous cops. Hooray for freedom in the New America!
 
hammer, there is a NYC law that forbids knives being carried exposed ( the clip). I assume that once they looked at the knife they were able to "flick" it open ? The charge mostlikely is possession of a weapon in the 4th degree ( an Class A misd. assumiong you have no other criminal convictions). Sine the orginal charge was truely based on the violation of the Admin Code, you must use this as your defense. Get a letter from your union and place of work stating a knife is a tool of your trade. This is an allowable reason to carry the knife. It should make the reason you were stopped invalid, and then the knife will no longer be deemed to be discovered during a valid search.....of course this depends on the Judge. Get a good lawyer...good luck...
 
here is the wording on the times you CAN have a knife exposed...you seem to fall into the returning from work part.....

d. The provisions of subdivisions b and c of this section shall not
apply to (1) persons in the military service of the state of New York
when duly authorized to carry or display knives pursuant to regulations
issued by the chief of staff to the governor; (2) police officers and
peace officers as defined in the criminal procedure law; (3)
participants in special events when authorized by the police
commissioner; (4) persons in the military or other service of the United
States, in pursuit of official duty authorized by federal law; (5)
emergency medical technicians or voluntary or paid ambulance drivers
while engaged in the performance of their duties; or (6) any person
displaying or in possession of a knife otherwise in violation of this
section when such knife (a) is being used for or transported immediately
to or from a place where it is used for hunting, fishing, camping,
hiking, picnicking or any employment, trade or occupation customarily
requiring the use of such knife; or (b) is displayed or carried by a
member of a theatrical group, drill team, military or para-military unit
or veterans organization, to, from, or during a meeting, parade or other
performance or practice for such event, which customarily requires the
carrying of such knife; or (c) is being transported directly to or from
a place of purchase, sharpening or repair, packaged in such a manner as
not to allow easy access to such knife while it is transported; or (d)
is displayed or carried by a duly enrolled member of the Boy or Girl
Scouts of America or a similar organization or society and such display
or possession is necessary to participate in the activities of such
organization or society.
 
Tom, thank you very much for some excellent advice. Scanning your forums and those at spyderco, it seems that this is happening with a frightening frequency in NYC. I read a post at spyderco about a fellow from upstate NY who's cousin was arrested in the same area I was in only a few days later by two cops in a taxicab who were probably the same ones who arrested me.

In any event, I will take your advice and get a letter from my Union, hire the best attorney I can and, in the future, remember to leave my knife in my toolkit at the end of the workday. It just isn't worth spending days lost in the Tombs while my family wonders whether I am dead or alive, to carry a work tool on my person off the job.

The knife in question is an assisted opener. It cannot be opened by a flick. It must be started with a thumb stud and locked with a sliding button on top of the handle. My nephew just graduated from the Philadelphia Police Academy and I gave him one as a present. All of his fellow officers were very enthusiastic about it and wanted to know where to get one. As such, I saw no problem with it. Silly me. Philly is NOT NYC!

Further, my PD allowed as how the Police had in the past, "worked" knives to make them "gravity enabled", so I would need a good attorney to show that this condition is not normal.

All in all, this experience is going to cost me, one way or the other. My advicec to anyone traveling to NYC is leave your knives home. I had a legitimate reason for possessing mine and look what happened to me. Believe me, if I didn't have to earn a living there, I would never go back.

For the record, I am a 57 year old former Marine who looks his age, not a young guy or a gangbanger and I was dressed in carhart work shorts and carhart teeshirt, covered in sawdust - a real criminal to some I guess.
 
hammer, the assited openers are not gravity knives or switchblades by design, however, if you can flick open the knife it is still a gravity knife even though it is designed to open otherwise....these are the legal definitions in the penal law.....

"Switchblade knife" means any knife which has a blade which opens
automatically by hand pressure applied to a button, spring or other
device in the handle of the knife.


5. "Gravity knife" means any knife which has a blade which is released
from the handle or sheath thereof by the force of gravity or the
application of centrifugal force which, when released, is locked in
place by means of a button, spring, lever or other device

The assited openers skirt the law since you push the blade to open and have to overcome some resistance, BUT most of them can still be flicked open and are therefore still a gravity knife....If the officers "work" the knife to loosen the blade they have committed a worse crime than you did....not to say it never happens.
 
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