Were American policemen ever "issued" a knife ?

[BladeScout]

I used to live near a plush town in NJ which had a great school system yet their residents would send their kids to private school.

They had a millitarized anti riot Hummer clad in armor plates. You know for when like the soccer moms get ornery and cut the pickup line for their kids at school.

Standard issue? No, I've never seen one, but I would bet small lots of this and that were probably bought. And I remember a big stink being made when a police department got a few batches of m-7 type bayonets given to them when they were surplused out by the military.

Police departments (even small ones) can receive all sorts of military gear.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/09/us/war-gear-flows-to-police-departments.html

Blood guts and dope?
On a knife?
What countries LEO does this?

Yours.
A cop might have to cut the seat belt in order to free a person after a vehicle has been involved in an accident. These crashes are often not ''sterile.'

Most LEO I know carry good quality gear.

The few knives Ive noticed belonging to cops on duty were ''carp' blades. Goes for the knives of their ''customers' as well.

 

[Filthyj24]

I wish.

 

[Bad Ninja]

They open bags of drugs with them, use them to move things they don't want to touch, pry with them, use them as screwdrivers, and just abuse them in general - just like most other people do.

Not sure about your area, but cutting open bags of Dope would be evidence tampering.
If it's suspected, they bag and tag it and turn it in.
The

Police departments (even small ones) can receive all sorts of military gear.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/09/us/war-gear-flows-to-police-departments.html


Yours.
A cop might have to cut the seat belt in order to free a person after a vehicle has been involved in an accident. These crashes are often not ''sterile.'



The few knives Ive noticed belonging to cops on duty were ''carp' blades. Goes for the knives of their ''customers' as well.

Not mine.

I have several LEO that are family and close friends.
Including the local Sheriff.
They don't get "blood and guts and dope" on their blades.
They also don't tamper with evidence by cutting open "packages of dope", nor do they carry low end tools.

Out of the 5 officers I know, 3 carry Benchmade, one carries a ZT and one carries a Spyderco.

 

[BladeScout]

They don't get "blood and guts and dope" on their blades.
They also don't tamper with evidence by cutting open "packages of dope", nor do they carry low end tools.

I didnt post about the dope part.
In regards to cops not getting bodily fluids etc on their knives, please consider that some might need to cut a seat belt in order to extract a mangled body from a burning vehicle or dispatch the odd animal by the roadside.

 

[jaseman]

I don't mean to imply most LEO's are tampering with evidence. Just that 3/4 of all the cops I've known or interacted with mainly carried whatever $30-$50 knife they could get at a local big box store. It's a secondary tool that sees a lot of dirty tasks. They'll spend much more money on a good multitool, duty belt, and other, more essential gear than they will a knife.

Just my personal experience though, and FWIW, mostly city and suburban LEO.

 

[zzyzzogeton]

Most of the LEOs I have worked with or spoken with about knives all carry relatively small and inexpensive folding knives. Some carry a TDI as retention backup, but for general cutting, small and cheap it is.

Small because any extra weight slows you down when chasing a rabbit. The rabbit is dumping any illegal weight they are carrying as they run, while the LEOs are packing a lot of the stuff that would make an olympic sprinter look like a turtle.

Inexpensive because they get lost easily - running after a fleeing suspect, tackling a fleeing suspect, fighting with a suspect, getting and out of a vehicle umpteen jillion times a day, crawling around onthe ground looking for evidence, etc.......

I know one LEO who buys his knives "cheaper by the dozen". He doesn't worry about how well they hold an edge. He says he looses them before they ever get dull.

 

[Bad Ninja]

I didnt post about the dope part.
In regards to cops not getting bodily fluids etc on their knives, please consider that some might need to cut a seat belt in order to extract a mangled body from a burning vehicle or dispatch the odd animal by the roadside.

Here, LEOs allow EMTs to do their job especially when "bodies are Mangled".
They do carry a seatbelt "strap cutter" tool, but unless the car is on fire or presents an immediate danger, they don't touch injured crash victims.

They also don't "dispatch" animals with a pocket knife.

They definitely don't get so much "blood, guts, and dope" on their knife that they need to carry cheap tools because of it.
LEOs aren't seal team 6, and life isn't like TV.

 

[BladeScout]

Here, LEOs allow EMTs to do their job especially when "bodies are Mangled".
They do carry a seatbelt "strap cutter" tool, but unless the car is on fire or presents an immediate danger, they don't touch injured crash victims.

They also don't "dispatch" animals with a pocket knife.

They definitely don't get so much "blood, guts, and dope" on their knife that they need to carry cheap tools because of it.
LEOs aren't seal team 6, and life isn't like TV.

We are going in circles here.
I specificaly pointed out a burning car. You then parrot me. Goes without saying, you cant always wait for EMT, which was the gist of my post.
Further more, its not always possible to discharge a firearms to put an animal out of its misery.
As for SEALs (pls respect them enough to use caps. A seal is a semiquatic mammal); Im a hunter, Ive used my knife to kill animals and Im most certainly not a SEAL.

Nonsensical references to SEAL Team 6 and TV are useless vis a vis this thread. Im out of this one.