Police officer doesn't know the knife laws in my state.

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Spartan00

Joined
Feb 4, 2016
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Just stepped outside and my neighbors were outside. He's a cop , and our daughters are the same age and they like to play together.

I got a cold steel talwar in the mail yesterday and had it in my pocket. Neighbor gives me a holler and he is outside with his kid he says hey you got a knife ? I said yes and walked over there. Waved the talwar out (not on purpose if it matters) and hand it to him. He cuts the ties off his kids toys and hands me the knife back. He then replies be careful with that "switch blade it's illegal you know". I replied it wasn't a switch blade and pointed out the pocket catch on the knife.

Now I know my knife laws in my state (Alabama) , and I'm friendly with my neighbors and I'm still the new guy on the block.

Anyway so I explained the pocket catch and all that. Not wanting to come across as a smart elic and all that I just asked him this. I said when did they ban autos? I said last time I checked they were legal and could be bought and carried here . He tells me as far as he knew they had always been illegal but he would text his captain to make sure. Now we live in a very small town. We have maybe 6 cops here .

So we are sitting there for a few minutes and his captain text back. Sure enough his captain says the same thing that they were and have always been illegal here in Alabama.

So I need some advice. Like I said we live in a small town maybe 6 cops. If 2/6 tell me in one day the same thing I'd be willing to bet the other 4 think the same thing.

I'm new to the neighborhood and don't want to come across as a know it all or a smart elic to my neighbors but the cops information is wrong. Main concern here is if I'm legally carrying a auto knife here snd get pulled over or something the cops will take my knife and or pursue legal action against me. In the end I kniw it would be thrown out and all but still it's a lot of hassle.

Some may say just don't carry it but they are legal here and I own a few .
 
Print out the code that refers to autos in your state and carry it in you wallet. Cops would rarely know you have an auto unless you committed a crime with it or you are playing with it at the food court in the shopping mall.
 
maybe just double check that its not on the local books as well? Could be just a simple mistake, not everyone is knowledgeable about everything. If you are 100% in the clear, then I wouldn't worry too much, you are just as likely to get the same trouble from a mis-informed state trooper. attitude is everything, sounds like you handled it well enough, maybe they will look into it as well?
 
Mistake number one. Never, ever, ever rely on a police officer for legal advice. Who cares what the officer or his "captain" said. It isn't worth the time arguing or conversing with them about it. Get over it and don't worry about it. They don't know the law. There is one hell of a difference between law enforcement officers and lawyers and judges who know the law.
 
First the Talwar is not a switchblade by any definition existing in any state. Second, arrests for the mere possession of a "prohibited" knife, without having commit some other obvious crime, are extremely rare. Simply put, the cop has to find the knife first, and they don't go looking unless you give them a reason. Third, if the very unlikely does happen, if what you say is true that it is 100% legal, the charge isn't just thrown out. The cop has just committed a fairly serious act that makes him liable in federal court. There's already case law on the books that make this fairly open-and-shut: Arrest a citizen for a knife that isn't illegal, and he faces a federal judge, lose of funds, and potentially his badge.
 
Lets try to not have the guy's neighbor lose his job. Small place, fewer resources, stuff that isn't important doesn't get dealt with, and this is a non-important issue. The bigger problem the chief has is making sure all his guys don't end up working too much overtime, and still get enough patrolling done. I'm sure Spartan00 is smart enough to know how to approach the subject again at a later time, get the people who need to know some better info, and everyone gets along just fine. Its the choir line around here that you don't rely on cops for legal advice, which is all well and good. The flipside of that is getting into an argument with a cop is always a bad idea. Keep your dealings calm and reasonable, and there are no worries.
 
I am willing to bet Alabama is like Missouri....only "out the front" autos are illegal.
 
gadgetgeek said:
The bigger problem the chief has is making sure all his guys don't end up working too much overtime, and still get enough patrolling done. I'm sure Spartan00 is smart enough to know how to approach the subject again at a later time, get the people who need to know some better info, and everyone gets along just fine. Its the choir line around here that you don't rely on cops for legal advice, which is all well and good. The flipside of that is getting into an argument with a cop is always a bad idea. Keep your dealings calm and reasonable, and there are no worries.
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Even better is not to engage a police officer in a discussion about what the law is and the interpretation thereof.
 
Vinifera said:
Even better is not to engage a police officer in a discussion about what the law is and the interpretation thereof.
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The fact he's a cop isn't really the issue, the fact we are next door neighbors and both own our homes so we will likely be neighbors a very long time and I've only been here since June. Thay was my biggest issue is how to approach him.

In Alabama all autos are legal regardless of otf or whatever it is.

Just caught him going to his mailbox as I was going to mine and just flat out told him and showed him the law. All is well.

Again my thing wasn't how to approach a cop it was more how to approach the cop who lives 40 feet away that I see everyday and our kids play together ,how do I approach him since he does this for a living and not come across as a jerk or a know it all. Like I said I just told him. Said I thought itd be in his best interest to know since it was his job and that them being mistaken like that could lead to something bad to him or his department if they did anything to anyone and they weren't breaking a law
 
I wouldn't worry too much. In a small town as long as you aren't someone causing trouble you shouldn't have any problems.
 
Spartan00 said:
told him and showed him the law. All is well.
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A no shrug policy is a must for free men in a complex society. Lies repeated often enough become truth… By showing him the law as a neighbor it is relationship building with friendly sharing. Now get the statute in front of the Capt.
 
scottc3 said:
A no shrug policy is a must for free men in a complex society. Lies repeated often enough become truth… By showing him the law as a neighbor it is relationship building with friendly sharing. Now get the statute in front of the Capt.
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I think I'll leave it alone. If need be I can print out the law and keep it on me. I live in a small town of about 5500 people and about 6 cops.

I've found my life is a lot simpler and a lot more peaceful without the police in my life.

Not saying I'm a bad person or I do anything illegal I just like the police to keep their distance from me. Luckily my neighbor and I are hitting it off pretty good. I guess he could tell I was kind of eery of him when we first met. He keeps on telling me he's not a cop when he's at home.
 
In my experience, it's probably not that he doesn't know. It's probably that he just doesn't care. Many of the police in my small town were the same way growing up...sorry to say. :(
 
Well I live in Los Angeles County. We have about 30,000 Officers in the local area.
Having been in LE, and having interaction with many LEO's in my area, I can tell you that most know the law through persistent contact and court experience with people. Beyond that, they consult the penal or vehicle code for things that are foreign to them. Most would consider a spring assist an auto unless they know knives for example.
 
Most police officers know surprisingly little about any laws. Even when they do know they often feign ignoarance so they can bully you into getting their way.

To protect and serve? More like to oppress and abuse.
 
As a law enforcement officer for 16 years I can tell you that laws change and if you work in a specialty field you might not have current knowledge of the law and must look it up. Also remember just as federal laws cannot be changed by the states, the states can have more restrictive laws, and therefore a county or city can also have a more restrictive law or ordnance. And to saw that a lawyer or a judge knows the law better is a bigger old lie. They general know the area of the law that they specialize in and know how to look it up or have assistants to look it up for them. Have seen judges and lawyers get it wrong many times and those are the reason that majority of the times a case gets overturned by a higher court because of their errors.
Remember officers are humans and can make mistakes and are not doing it on purpose or intention, most of the time. There are butt heads in our field like all fields and they give all of us bad names. The majority of law enforcement officers around this nation want to protect and save the rights that we all have with weapons and don't live to oppress anyone of what the US Constitution grants us.
 
Gary,

That's why it is so important to support Knife Rights. They are ACTIVELY trying to improve knife laws nation-wide, one state at a time.

In Texas alone, over the last 3 legislative sessions, Knife Rights has worked to get automatics/switchblades/balisongs legal, gotten a pre-emption law passed which precludes the development of patchwork laws at the county and municipal level, and this year we are on the verge of getting rid of Reconstruction era prohibitions, re. edged tools.

Fewer restrictive laws that result in a LEO just needing to decide if what someone did falls into the category of "illegal" rather than needing to make judgement calls on esoteric BS laws can only result in an officer being able to do his/her job better.

Knife Rights is not going to be able to get all laws nation-wide changed to Texas/Arizona/New Hampshire style in just a couple of years, if ever. But they are the only ones TRYING to make a difference. It is very expensive to have someone like Todd, KR's lobbyist and Doug, the Founder, running from state to state working the various state systems. So even if they never do another thing in Texas, I'll still keep advocating membership and support so that KR will be able to keep fighting in knife unfriendly states.

Just imagine... if every Registered member of Bladeforums signed up for a bare basic membership in KR every year, Doug and Todd would not to go begging for funds/donations for the Steel Extravaganzas to raise money. They could just work at work.

ps -where in Texas are you located?
 
glistam said:
First the Talwar is not a switchblade by any definition existing in any state. Second, arrests for the mere possession of a "prohibited" knife, without having commit some other obvious crime, are extremely rare. Simply put, the cop has to find the knife first, and they don't go looking unless you give them a reason. Third, if the very unlikely does happen, if what you say is true that it is 100% legal, the charge isn't just thrown out. The cop has just committed a fairly serious act that makes him liable in federal court. There's already case law on the books that make this fairly open-and-shut: Arrest a citizen for a knife that isn't illegal, and he faces a federal judge, lose of funds, and potentially his badge.
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That might be how it works in theory, but not in actual practice. In recent years the standard of qualified immunity has been broadened to protect an ever-increasing degree of abuse of authority carried out by police officers who have no respect for the law. Even when a violation of civil and legal rights is egregious, the officer responsible still isn't held liable or responsible unless there's absolutely overwhelming evidence to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the violation was deliberate and premeditated. Otherwise the courts have held that the violation wasn't a deliberate action, and therefore wasn't grounds for punishment.
 
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