Office Safety and fixed bladed knifes on duty belt

[Shpdog2013]

Hey Everyone,

I have what I believe is an Officer Safety issue but before I go to far I want to hear what other people have to say.

I work in a fast growing city with a great group of guys. The issue is not with the dept. I work in, but with a Deptuy Sheriff in our county. I have heard about this guy, but wasnt until earlier this week that he assisted me on a call and as soon as he walked up, the Officer Safety alarm went off as loud as it could. It wasnt the person that set off my concern but what and where a tool was on his duty belt.

As this D.S. walked up to me for the first time (having never meet him before), I observed a fixed bladed knife approximately 8-10 inches long (including the handle) in a plastic sheath mounted horizontially to the front of his duty belt where the magazine pouch should be. To make things worse, upon further examination after dealing with the call, the knife did not have a way to secure it. So it could be easily pulled out by the officer (or a POS). To make matters worse, his mag pouch was on his left hip at about the 8 O'Clock Position.

So here is my question: Am I wrong with thinking this is a HUGE OFFICER SAFETY ISSUE? Has anyone else seen officers do this???

[Guest]

Hey Everyone,

I have what I believe is an Officer Safety issue but before I go to far I want to hear what other people have to say.

I work in a fast growing city with a great group of guys. The issue is not with the dept. I work in, but with a Deptuy Sheriff in our county. I have heard about this guy, but wasnt until earlier this week that he assisted me on a call and as soon as he walked up, the Officer Safety alarm went off as loud as it could. It wasnt the person that set off my concern but what and where a tool was on his duty belt.

As this D.S. walked up to me for the first time (having never meet him before), I observed a fixed bladed knife approximately 8-10 inches long (including the handle) in a plastic sheath mounted horizontially to the front of his duty belt where the magazine pouch should be. To make things worse, upon further examination after dealing with the call, the knife did not have a way to secure it. So it could be easily pulled out by the officer (or a POS). To make matters worse, his mag pouch was on his left hip at about the 8 O'Clock Position.

So here is my question: Am I wrong with thinking this is a HUGE OFFICER SAFETY ISSUE? Has anyone else seen officers do this???

Have you thought about asking him about it?

[slamdunc]

He may have equipped himself to be in line with his training; it wouldn't work for me at all. IMHO, handcuffs in the rear is a huge officer safety issue. There are those on this forum who debate me on this but if they trained that way, who am I to say it won't work for them.

[Richard1971]

I also see a huge knife (unsecured) as a safety issue, if an officer walk up to me while I have a suspect in custody, I would ask him to stay away from my suspect, I don't wanna get stabbed or cut. where you put the mag pouch or cuffs doesn't much matter as it isn't much of a safety issue, but the keys YES and knifes YES

[just joe]

I have seen the horizontal knife and consider it a safety issue as well.

[Shush]

I know where I am , the deputies on shift at any given time have varying advanced skill sets. They know how to do all aspects of their job, they are just better at one thing than the rest. There is one deputy who is like the accident guru. He can do traffic, but he just excels at accidents. Another has the nose of a blood hound, and the personality of a mop. You put the whole group together, and no 2 are equipped exactly the same.

I am not defending this guy you are talking about because I don't know him. But I have found that officers/deputies who seek out more training in first aide or emergency response - tend to have sharp pointy slicey things where I definitely wouldn't. Our "accident guy" looks like Edward Scissorhands when he arrives at an accident scene with entrapment.

[Langford PR]

Have you thought about asking him about it?

Ditto. I've never seen what you're describing and if I did it would certainly make me concerned & curious. Talk to the guy and find out that 1) it is a knife and 2) why he carries in such a way. If it still concerns you after that make sure he understands your concerns and where he needs to be with that knife on YOUR calls.

Btw, I've known several LEO who carry fixed blades under clothing as a back up weapon but never displayed on a belt.

[BikeCop501]

I have this knife described like you said so, behind my magazine pouch, which is vertical and in the 11ish oclock position. It is a last chance knife, and I have been trained how to use it and how to retain it. It is also weakhand draw. Is this the one you are talking about?



BTW its measurements are Blade length 2-5/16"; Overall length 5-5/8"

[HI629]

Wow, you got to go on a call with Chuck Norris?

All kidding aside, have a chat with the man. You might learn something from him, you may school him, or you may school each other.

Some of the goofiest things I've seen on the road have turned out to be tactics that I later adopted for myself.

[jeffIL]

I also see a huge knife (unsecured) as a safety issue, if an officer walk up to me while I have a suspect in custody, I would ask him to stay away from my suspect, I don't wanna get stabbed or cut. where you put the mag pouch or cuffs doesn't much matter as it isn't much of a safety issue, but the keys YES and knifes YES

The keys?

[HI629]

The keys?

Think about the purpose of the keys and what you wouldn't be able to do without them.

[jeffIL]

Unlock my car to get a cup of coffee?

[Mulgrave600]

You guys carry knives on your belts?

[Iowa #1603]

You guys carry knives on your belts?

Most people in my area carry them in pockets..................clipped to the pocket for easy access




Many years ago I carried a "boot knife" which was a straight dagger type knife.




As far as the OP--------------------if the Deputy is anything but a rookie boot, I would trust that he has the training commensurate with the tools he carries. Most guys I know don't want to be carrying something they aren't fairly proficient with......ESPECIALLY if it is a "non standard issue" item.

Ask him and you might learn something

[Langford PR]

........................It takes balls to tell someone that what they are doing is ****ed up instead of just giggling about him with other cops while awaiting the arrival of his impending stabbing.

Spot on.