This is a question posed to any police officers reading this (or simply someone that wants to jump in). I was a cop for 13 years and always carried a knife of one kind or another. Just what cops did. Had automatic (switch blade), Emerson Karambit, and one of my favorites, a Crawford that is a deadly looking mother. For the last couple of years have been studying Kali, which, as some of yo may know, has a big emphasis on knives. Got in a discussion with one of my instructors and we started discussing the use of a knife as a police officer in a didactic manner. So my question came, when would a cop use his (or her) knife? I've heard the old rationalized argument :to cut a seat belt". Sure. Better instruments for that, if and when you ever actually have to cut a seat belt. Try cutting an old one sometime. We really couldn't come up with a viable reason for a cop actually using his knife, certainly in a defensive situation. First, I had a pistol. Had a small back up pistol, but not always. A Taser. A collapsible baton. And the knife by most, me included, was clipped in the right pocket. See how fast you can get to this. If you can't get to your gun, can you access the knife any easier. So keep in mind, from the legal perspective, a knife is a deadly weapon. And extremely close range. So when you use your knife, you are trying to kill the person. And now comes an important issue, do you really know how to use the knife effectively? And it's a given, that an untrained person is probably going to not be terribly disadvantaged over a trained person when it comes to doing damage to another person. I'll be interested to see the comments to this.
Police and Knives
- Thread starter marinedoc
- Start date
Babboonbobo
Well-Known Fanatic
Truly doesn't make any sense does it.
I would think that if a Police Officer with a gun has gotten into a close up self defense situation where he's fighting with a knife, he has already screwed up in a major way.
AS a cop, I know we don't always make the soundest decisions, and knives may be in that category. And to top the list off, we now have some high profile cases where the police officers both thought they were reaching for their Taser. Now lets add more weapons to the equation.
I did a few in LE(Reserves) for several years. Carried a knife. Thought I knew how to use it pretty effectively. Until my Captain a former Navy Seal showed me I didn't know ****.
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Babboonbobo
Well-Known Fanatic
I work with an older big fat guy (huge beer belly) that trained over seas and no one would guess that he could kick anyone's ass before they even knew what happened. His specialty is knives!!!
There were a couple people that he would "train" on breaks in the up stairs locker room
It sounded like a gorilla slamming a rag doll around and these guys were huge and worked out most of the shift every day! Our shop was right next to the gym, the one that worked with him the most benches 400lbs and is still very agile!
I watched them once and it was crazy insane what he could do.
There were a couple people that he would "train" on breaks in the up stairs locker room
It sounded like a gorilla slamming a rag doll around and these guys were huge and worked out most of the shift every day! Our shop was right next to the gym, the one that worked with him the most benches 400lbs and is still very agile!
I watched them once and it was crazy insane what he could do.
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switchback
Well-Known Fanatic
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2020
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- 663
I'm not LE. I carry a knife everyday and always have. It gets used often, but not for fighting- at least not yet. The "more items on belt" comment is a good take on uniform officer gear. It can get confusing when its all about to go south.
Interesting conversation
Interesting conversation
Babboonbobo
Well-Known Fanatic
I forgot the best part!I work with an older big fat guy (huge beer belly) that trained over seas and no one would guess that he could kick anyone's ass before they even knew what happened. His specialty is knives!!!
There were a couple people that he would "train" on breaks in the up stairs locker room
It sounded like a gorilla slamming a rag doll around and these guys were huge and worked out most of the shift every day! Our shop was right next to the gym, the one that worked with him the most benches 400lbs and is still very agile!
I watched them once and it was crazy insane what he could do.
His name is Kim (60yr old white dude) but we call him Buddha because of his huge belly!! Looks like a huge bouncy ball with stick legs and arms! Awesome cool dude but has a funny body shaped with a girls name!
No wonder he can kick some serious ass!!
