Stopped by Police With EDC?

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Just my 2 cents, but I can't help but agree with the folks who say "just be curtious" ...it gets you a long way. Trust me, this is coming from someone who has been detained in two different foreign countries by two completely different types of authorities, but both times I was as polite and friendly as possible and i PROMISE that this is a big part of the reason i was let off both times with nothing more than a pleasant "try to be more careful". My second bit of advice is to learn the local laws where you are going. Did you know you can be arrested for carrying a lockblade knife in the U.K? I didn't.. could have saved me a 4 hour visit with the local train police.
 
Police are there to investigate crimes, keep that in mind. Be polite, but you don't have to say anything.
 
Cereal_killer said:
Do you have a CCP or were you just open carrying? The number one rule for a CCP is you must Immedentally inform any LEO you are carrying, regardless of the reason for the contact... He doesn't have to ask.

You got very very lucky, was this awhile ago? I don't know where you are but here in Ohio the county sheriff of where you live is in charge of all CCP's in his county and an instance like you described, after it made it up the chain to him, would most likely result in your CCP being pulled.
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Now this was a very long time ago. I was in my ford truck and I had the bench seat cover that had pocket in the front of the seat. I had it in the gun holster in the front pocket between my legs and it was fully loaded with a chamber round. They asked me to get out of the truck. No problem. Then they put me in had cuffs because of the gun. The ccw was not made yet. They ran the serial numbers and me for warrants. I came up clean so they handed it back to me and told me about saying I had a gun the next time I was stop by the police.
 
Well in Oklahoma one is able to get a permit to carry a gun, openly or concealed. I've been stopped numerous times for speeding since living here, never once been asked about a knife. When the officer gets to my window, I hand him my driver's license, gun permit, and insurance card. In the 11 years I've lived here, I've probably been stopped over ten times, I do have two hot rods one of which is a motorcycle. I have not gotten a ticket yet. ;-)

Last time, I was doing 60 in a 45. Officer asked me when he approached if I was armed. Told him no as my work on an AFB does not permit me to do so. He ran my numbers, told me I had a really nice bike, and slow down a bit.
 
Having LEO (and Fed) friends, I've learned the three rules for use when interacting with a uniformed officer: Respect, Common Sense and NO Surprises.

Yall do what ya want. These three rules kept me out of a DUI two years ago.
 
"This is exactly the response I gave. This is perfect. A few years ago I was pulled over at a DUI checkpoint. The officer asked me if I had any "sharp pointing things" on me. I told him I always carry a pocket knife. He removed it from my pocket temporarily. He gave it back to me when the check was finished. It was a Spyderco Paramilitary 1."

See, dang it. This is BS. Not you. The cop.

What business does the cop have asking you if you had "any sharp pointing things"(WTF?) on you? "When the check was finished?" What the heck does that mean. License, registration, insurance it's over. Done. Finished. You may go now. SIR. And that's it!

Except it's not.

But I'm sure someone will be along soon to let you know that didn't actually happen. Or, that it's rare. Or something
 
When the officer asks you if you are armed he literally means anything that could cause him harm and if so where the "weapon" is and what type it is. So yes a knife counts no matter the size, also make sure you calmly and verbally (don't reach for it unless he asks you to and if he asks you do so slowly) point out anything that you may have in your car like pepper spray, tasers, emergency flare guns, if you have anything that resembles a weapon let him know "I have a BB gun in the trunk" for example. But if you don't give him reason to pull you over in the first place you won't have to worry about it :)
 
bobec57 said:
Please be up front about any weapons you have on you.
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In my state there is no duty or requirement to inform. I say as little as need be said and only speak when required. I'd really like to go home too.
 
Cereal_killer said:
Do you have a CCP or were you just open carrying? The number one rule for a CCP is you must Immedentally inform any LEO you are carrying, regardless of the reason for the contact... He doesn't have to ask.
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That is not correct as that is not the case in all jurisdictions. Not all jurisdictions are the same. In my state there is no duty or requirement to inform whether open carrying (no permit required) or concealed carrying (permit required).
 
In Texas it's not technically required to inform but it's going to come up when they run the license anyway. I figure why hide it? I haven't been stopped in years but if I am I'll have no issue with handing him my CCW permit along with my DL. I would at least expect the LEO to ask where the gun is, and depending on his level of comfort with the situation he may ask to temporarily detain it. That's his call as far as I'm concerned.
 
HwangJino said:
To be honest, I stopped being polite a long time ago to LEO.

im short answered and rude, they are the same.

but anyways, id answer 'no, but I have a pocket knife' like someone else said.
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I've found that it always helps to be nice to people. I'm sure the officer won't feel bad about ruining your day if you're being a jerk. I've been pulled over many times and have never got a ticket while being pulled over on the side of the road... If I was a jerk to cops I'd have a full collection of useless tickets. If a cop pulls you over for something that's B.S. like "drifting into a lane" when it's made up, or for example I've had cops tell me my tail light was out when it really wasn't.. It sucks but what does it help to be a jerk to the cop?

In the end your ego will cost you when it comes to cops... I know it sounds lame and all but if you're nice to police they actually have plenty of other people being complete pricks to them they can go write tickets to. If you want to act like a big wheel with no time for the police you'll hear things like "you're not wearing a seatbelt" "what's that knife over there" "what's that smell" "these windows look illegal" etc etc etc way more often.

be polite and calm, it makes little sense to do otherwise.
 
sirupatespecial said:
"This is exactly the response I gave. This is perfect. A few years ago I was pulled over at a DUI checkpoint. The officer asked me if I had any "sharp pointing things" on me. I told him I always carry a pocket knife. He removed it from my pocket temporarily. He gave it back to me when the check was finished. It was a Spyderco Paramilitary 1."

See, dang it. This is BS. Not you. The cop.

What business does the cop have asking you if you had "any sharp pointing things"(WTF?) on you? "When the check was finished?" What the heck does that mean. License, registration, insurance it's over. Done. Finished. You may go now. SIR. And that's it!

Except it's not.

But I'm sure someone will be along soon to let you know that didn't actually happen. Or, that it's rare. Or something
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In New York you would understand why a cop might ask you this. If a police officer is doing his job and in the process happens to ask if I have something pointy, then yea I wouldn't have any problem mentioning it, and as long as I got it back, no problem.

Now if a cop just walked up to me for no apparent reason and asked if I had a pointy thing, then yea that might be BS. But I would STILL be polite and respectful, despite it being BS. Trust me you don't want to give a cop a reason to want to arrest you. I know people who have, and what could have been a simple "have a nice day" wound up with a night in jail and a few thousand in lawyer's fees.
 
monger4142 said:
If a cop pulls you over for something that's B.S. like "drifting into a lane" when it's made up.
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+1, I was pulled over a few years back leaving a bar at 1:00am. The cop said I "switched lanes" without signaling, it was a merge. Then the next thing he said was "have you been drinking? I smell alcohol on your breath". Now I knew why he pulled me over, I also knew he didn't smell alcohol on my breath and was completely full of s--- because I hadn't had any alcohol!

I wanted to tell him off, but I politely responded that I hadn't been drinking. Then he continued to ask me some questions and it turned into a cordial conversation! The stop ended with a "have a nice night".
 
Powernoodle's rules for the road:

1 - know the law intimately, and comply with it in every respect. This cuts both ways, because you know what is not legal, and what is legal.

2 - be exceedingly respectful with the Po-Po, and your chances of having a favorable outcome are greatly increase. "Yes, sir. No, sir. I'm sorry."

3 - if being respectful still results in the Po-Po being a jerkwad, don't grab your ankles or stick a corncob up your rear end just because they tell you to. The worst thing they can do is arrest you, and that's not the end of the world. This is especially true if you are exercising #1 above, because its highly unlikely that you will be charged with possession of weed if you don't have any weed in your car. This rule #3 is a little easier for me than many people, because I've practiced law for 22 years and know how to make the Po-Po's life just as miserable as he is making mine. I know its tougher if you are 19 years old and are still wearing Sponge Bob undies. But there reaches a point in your life when you stop being afraid of the police. I reached that point long ago.
 
Had one occasion to be in this situation.
I said "No, just a pocket-knife."
He opened it and said "That's not a pocket-knife; it's a folding machete!" (5 inch blade Cold Steel tanto Voyager, old style).

He gave it back though.
And I got on the next bus.

Be polite: it's free. :)
 
jaymeister99 said:
+1, I was pulled over a few years back leaving a bar at 1:00am. The cop said I "switched lanes" without signaling, it was a merge. Then the next thing he said was "have you been drinking? I smell alcohol on your breath". Now I knew why he pulled me over, I also knew he didn't smell alcohol on my breath and was completely full of s--- because I hadn't had any alcohol!

I wanted to tell him off, but I politely responded that I hadn't been drinking. Then he continued to ask me some questions and it turned into a cordial conversation! The stop ended with a "have a nice night".
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It would have been nice to tell him off, but then you'd probably be walking in a straight line and trying to recite the alphabet backwards, lol. I think sometimes they just pull as many people over as they can. when I was pulled over at night for "drifting" I drove past the same cop pulling someone else over almost immediately. He was actually praying on people doing nothing wrong in the slow lane.. which I guess is "good police work" but pretty unfair...
 
Since I'm also carrying a handgun concealed, I will lower my window and then put both hands on top of the steering wheel. By the time the officer is at my car, I'll have my billfold containing my dr. license and concealed weapons permit in my hand. We'll go on from there.
Anything he wants...is quite reasonable. I don't wish to make him nervous. Put yourself in his shoes...
Sonnydaze
 
I guess our law in Michigan is a folder with 3 inch blade or less. That said, the law is so vague it really only refers to having a blade over 3 inches on you while commiting a crime could lead to a felony charge for that knife.

I know people that carry folders bigger, closer to 4 inch blades and get stopped but never hassled about the blade length. One in particular has a beater knife and that might help cause I often wonder if you had a nice/expensive one, would it get confiscated? I dont go over the 3 inch limit so I dont give the po-po any reason for keeping my knife. :D

To me, if asked I would tell them I have a pocket knife and leave it at that, depending on what the situation was.
 
Sonnydaze said:
Since I'm also carrying a handgun concealed, I will lower my window and then put both hands on top of the steering wheel. By the time the officer is at my car, I'll have my billfold containing my dr. license and concealed weapons permit in my hand. We'll go on from there.
Anything he wants...is quite reasonable. I don't wish to make him nervous. Put yourself in his shoes...
Sonnydaze
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But anything he wants is often not "quite reasonable". Like searching you or your car without probable cause.
 
I see this question come up a lot through the years and I have to ask.
What are you doing that would make any LEO question you about it?
Personally I carry many sizes of all brands for over 40 years and have never been approached about them or anyone else..
I carry my trailmaster openly on my belt and 2 folders with pocket clips daily without a problem.
If I was asked by any leo I would tell them that it is a tool.....period
 
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