Hey Everyone,
So let me give you an introduction of where I am from, and the situation. Here in Vancouver BC, the transit system has their own police force known as Transit police. These police officers have the same power as provincial police officers, so they can convict people for crime, ticket, be general pricks etc etc .
Last night I was on the Skytrain with four of my friends with a bottle of open wine in a paper bag when I suddenly felt my knife a spyderco endure wave taken out of my rear pocket. When I looked behind me I was greeted by two transit police officers. At this point the male police officer motioning towards my bagged wine bottle and says, I will for sure be taking that away, and while flopping my knife closed, this we will be talking about.
At this point, we are taken off the train and I am issued a ticket for consuming alcohol in a public space; I take full responsibility for this as this was illegal, though my friends and I were conversing to ourselves and by no means a drunken nuisance. After this, the police officer began questioning me about why I was carrying the knife. I explained my job at a major Canadian outdoor gear retailer, and explained that it was part of my EDC, also showing him my flashlight.
The police officer from here proceeded to try to flick open my knife, which he could not do. On his second attempt he partially opened the knife with his thumb and flicked the knife open and said, hmmm. The officer shortly after explained to me that, It was not in the publics interest for me to be carrying the knife out in the open. I proceeded by explaining the legality of me carrying the knife concealed, which in Canada is illegal even if the knife is under X inches or does not lock, but without result. His response still related to public interest, and at this point I realize that there was nothing I could of said to the officer and accepted what he was doing. It should be noted that my friends and I were extremely polite with the officers.
After receiving the ticket I asked if this knife was being confiscated as a weapon. He said that the knife was not, and that I could pick it out at a later date. He then gave me a case number and I asked about the process.
I am happy that he did not consider my knife as a weapon, but I am confused and upset that I now need to travel to a suburb city far from Vancouver to pick up an item I was carrying 100% legally.
My question for all of you is the legality/ rights that he had in this situation. (I found it stupid that he took the knife out of my pocket, if I had fully reacted it could have been a very poor situation.) Did he have the right to even take my knife out of my pocket? It was legally carried as it was not concealed and I had a legitimate reason for carrying the knife.
Please let me know everyone, and I thank all of you in advance for responding.
-Victor
So let me give you an introduction of where I am from, and the situation. Here in Vancouver BC, the transit system has their own police force known as Transit police. These police officers have the same power as provincial police officers, so they can convict people for crime, ticket, be general pricks etc etc .
Last night I was on the Skytrain with four of my friends with a bottle of open wine in a paper bag when I suddenly felt my knife a spyderco endure wave taken out of my rear pocket. When I looked behind me I was greeted by two transit police officers. At this point the male police officer motioning towards my bagged wine bottle and says, I will for sure be taking that away, and while flopping my knife closed, this we will be talking about.
At this point, we are taken off the train and I am issued a ticket for consuming alcohol in a public space; I take full responsibility for this as this was illegal, though my friends and I were conversing to ourselves and by no means a drunken nuisance. After this, the police officer began questioning me about why I was carrying the knife. I explained my job at a major Canadian outdoor gear retailer, and explained that it was part of my EDC, also showing him my flashlight.
The police officer from here proceeded to try to flick open my knife, which he could not do. On his second attempt he partially opened the knife with his thumb and flicked the knife open and said, hmmm. The officer shortly after explained to me that, It was not in the publics interest for me to be carrying the knife out in the open. I proceeded by explaining the legality of me carrying the knife concealed, which in Canada is illegal even if the knife is under X inches or does not lock, but without result. His response still related to public interest, and at this point I realize that there was nothing I could of said to the officer and accepted what he was doing. It should be noted that my friends and I were extremely polite with the officers.
After receiving the ticket I asked if this knife was being confiscated as a weapon. He said that the knife was not, and that I could pick it out at a later date. He then gave me a case number and I asked about the process.
I am happy that he did not consider my knife as a weapon, but I am confused and upset that I now need to travel to a suburb city far from Vancouver to pick up an item I was carrying 100% legally.
My question for all of you is the legality/ rights that he had in this situation. (I found it stupid that he took the knife out of my pocket, if I had fully reacted it could have been a very poor situation.) Did he have the right to even take my knife out of my pocket? It was legally carried as it was not concealed and I had a legitimate reason for carrying the knife.
Please let me know everyone, and I thank all of you in advance for responding.
-Victor
