Knife Confiscated By Police Officer, Thoughts?

[vicoll135]

Hey Everyone,

So let me give you an introduction of where I am from, and the situation. Here in Vancouver BC, the transit system has their own police force known as Transit police. These police officers have the same power as provincial police officers, so they can convict people for crime, ticket, be general pricks etc etc….
Last night I was on the Skytrain with four of my friends with a bottle of open wine in a paper bag when I suddenly felt my knife – a spyderco endure wave – taken out of my rear pocket. When I looked behind me I was greeted by two transit police officers. At this point the male police officer motioning towards my bagged wine bottle and says, “I will for sure be taking that away,” and while flopping my knife closed, “this we will be talking about.”

At this point, we are taken off the train and I am issued a ticket for consuming alcohol in a public space; I take full responsibility for this as this was illegal, though my friends and I were conversing to ourselves and by no means a drunken nuisance. After this, the police officer began questioning me about why I was carrying the knife. I explained my job at a major Canadian outdoor gear retailer, and explained that it was part of my EDC, also showing him my flashlight.

The police officer from here proceeded to try to flick open my knife, which he could not do. On his second attempt he partially opened the knife with his thumb and flicked the knife open and said, “hmmm.” The officer shortly after explained to me that, “It was not in the public’s interest for me to be carrying the knife out in the open.” I proceeded by explaining the legality of me carrying the knife concealed, which in Canada is illegal even if the knife is under X inches or does not lock, but without result. His response still related to “public interest,” and at this point I realize that there was nothing I could of said to the officer and accepted what he was doing. It should be noted that my friends and I were extremely polite with the officers.
After receiving the ticket I asked if this knife was being confiscated as a weapon. He said that the knife was not, and that I could pick it out at a later date. He then gave me a case number and I asked about the process.

I am happy that he did not consider my knife as a weapon, but I am confused and upset that I now need to travel to a suburb city far from Vancouver to pick up an item I was carrying 100% legally.
My question for all of you is the legality/ rights that he had in this situation. (I found it stupid that he took the knife out of my pocket, if I had fully reacted it could have been a very poor situation.) Did he have the right to even take my knife out of my pocket? It was legally carried as it was not concealed and I had a legitimate reason for carrying the knife.
Please let me know everyone, and I thank all of you in advance for responding.

-Victor

[Allen R.]

You shoulda kicked that coppers *** or rent a coppers ***!!

[knife nut404]

i think you are lucky that at least it wasnt taken as a weapon

[SQSAR]

You shoulda kicked that coppers *** or rent a coppers ***!!

That's really great, , ,advocating violence against a police officer. That's exactly the way to keep a good name for the knife carrying public.

[chuck_roxas45]

That's really great, , ,advocating violence against a police officer. That's exactly the way to keep a good name for the knife carrying public.

Getting a ticket for something illegal is bad enough, getting charged with assaulting an officer will be no walk in the park.

[syphen]

When boozing... I leave my knives alone at home other then a ladybug on a keychain. Cops here in rural ontario are just looking for something like that to try and bust you on to kill some boredom.

[Blerv]

Glad it worked out (kinda). Drinking in public is quite bad and I can only assume it's similar to the states.

The cop was a fool for taking a knife out of your pocket. Glad he didn't get hit.

With my utter lack of legal knowledge in Canada, or in the states for that matter ( :p ), I would seek some type of legal counsel if that ticket for consuming booze is going to stick to your record. It would be horrible to have it effect certain employment, etc.

[D1omedes]

Did the officer have the right to take your knife? That's a loaded question and one that can be argued for days. In the real-world, practical sense - yes, he had the right to take your knife. If for whatever reason, the officer believed your knife could harm others then he can take it. Does that mean that he carefully evaluated all of your rights as a civilian - probably not.

In the end, imagine if you were in his shoes. You see a group of younger-age drinkers in public which is not legal (according to your facts) and one of them has a largish knife sticking out of the back pocket. Alcohol can cause fights to escalate very quickly and knife injuries can be fatal. If such were to happen with that officer in the proximity, he could face disciplinary action from a superior if something bad happened. He sought to diffuse any of that and was nice enough to give you information on how to retrieve your knife at a later date.

Trust me, most cops aren't that nice. I think you need to re-evaluate how you conduct yourself in public. It's not very intelligent to admit that you were committing a crime (no matter how minor you believe it to be) and then complain that a possible weapon was confiscated off of your person. If you are going to carry a knife then you need to exercise extra consideration of your actions. Just the same as if you were carrying a concealed handgun.

[gbelleh]

It probably never would've gotten confiscated without the public drinking. I'd say you got off lucky.

[Jay_Ev]

My question for all of you is the legality/ rights that he had in this situation. Did he have the right to even take my knife out of my pocket?

-Victor

It's probably not the best idea to try to obtain legal counsel on an internet forum, especially one like this where everyone is going to be rah-rah pro knife.

Also, we did only hear your recollection of events. Not saying you were being untruthful but you know what they say about there being two sides to every story.

[Sequimite]

Victor,

I've ridden on the Skytrain with a Spyderco clipped to my pocket. Sorry to hear about the officer taking the knife but glad to hear that you can get it back. Your rights were violated but you did the right thing keeping cool. Stuff like that used to happen to me all the time when i was young. Now that I'm old (retired) I never get hassled. Not fair, but a fact of life.

[knife nut404]

Victor,

I've ridden on the Skytrain with a Spyderco clipped to my pocket. Sorry to hear about the officer taking the knife but glad to hear that you can get it back. Your rights were violated but you did the right thing keeping cool. Stuff like that used to happen to me all the time when i was young. Now that I'm old (retired) I never get hassled. Not fair, but a fact of life.

you are forgetting he was drinking in public i think the cop was very fair with you compared to what he could have done.

[Sequimite]

you are forgetting he was drinking in public i think the cop was very fair with you compared to what he could have done.

I respectfully disagree. The officer could have done any number of illegal things and probably would have gotten away with it. Victor was cited for the offense he actually committed. The knife was not deemed illegal but was confiscated anyway. To take someone's property without legal cause is illegal even if you say it can be collected later.

Not a big deal for the officer to have a little leeway but you seem to assume that the police have the right to just make up the law as they go; they don't.

[Slash]

Carry cheaper knives and they wont take them away.

[jabba359]

While I don't agree with the method he used to remove it from your pocket (as you said, it could have been dangerous for him if you had reacted out of instinct, not knowing it was an officer taking it), I feel confiscating it was justified. While I'm no scholar on Canadian law (of even American law for that matter! :rolleyes :) , it makes logical sense that if someone is out illegally drinking in public and is carrying a knife (even if that knife is normally legal to carry), then it just might be in the public's best interest to not have said person carrying a potential weapon. It was more the situation you had put yourself in (by illegally drinking in public) than it was the actual carrying of the knife that probably determined the outcome of your knife getting confiscated.

It sounds like the officer was considerate and took the time to explain why he was taking the knife and how you could get it back. It seems that the inconvenience of having to go out of your way to pick up the knife isn't really that bad considering the situation in which it was confiscated. If they really wanted to be jerks, and taking into consideration how aggressive Canadian Customs is with one-handed openers, they probably could have found a way to classify it as a weapon, but they didn't.

I'm glad that you'll at least be able to get it back! And just remember, very few stories involving alcohol and sharp knives have happy endings!

[The Mastiff]

It sounds as if it could have turned out worse for you to be honest. The biggest lesson we come away with from this thread is don't call attention to yourself in public places especially where the public gathers and could be targeted by terrorists. The police are more numerous, more attentive and watchful, and less likely to have a sense of humor or be understanding about things.

Things have changed, and I assure you not just in Canada. It's happening here in the states, in Europe, and will likely get worse with time.

In my opinion, the more invisible one is out in public, the better off they usually are.

[jimnolimit]

this is why i carry my knife in my pocket and not clipped on my pocket.

p.s. carrying a knife exposed in NYC is illegal.

[jimnolimit]

Victor was cited for the offense he actually committed. The knife was not deemed illegal but was confiscated anyway. To take someone's property without legal cause is illegal even if you say it can be collected later.

i think it would be hard to argue that point based on the circumstances. the cop could easily say that because victor was drinking in public and impaired, the knife was taken away as a safety precaution.

[JCP1969]

Welcome Victor. I would suggest you don't break the law while carrying a knife If you are carrying in your back pocket unconcealed. Be aware of your surroundings. Considering the officer basically picked your pocket.I don't know if the cop was lucky you didn't react . I think you were lucky it was him and not someone interested in disarming you for other reasons. 1 cool thing about getting older. You grow up.

James

[dbcad]

While I don't agree with the method he used to remove it from your pocket (as you said, it could have been dangerous for him if you had reacted out of instinct, not knowing it was an officer taking it), I feel confiscating it was justified. While I'm no scholar on Canadian law (of even American law for that matter! :rolleyes :) , it makes logical sense that if someone is out illegally drinking in public and is carrying a knife (even if that knife is normally legal to carry), then it just might be in the public's best interest to not have said person carrying a potential weapon. It was more the situation you had put yourself in (by illegally drinking in public) than it was the actual carrying of the knife that probably determined the outcome of your knife getting confiscated.

It sounds like the officer was considerate and took the time to explain why he was taking the knife and how you could get it back. It seems that the inconvenience of having to go out of your way to pick up the knife isn't really that bad considering the situation in which it was confiscated. If they really wanted to be jerks, and taking into consideration how aggressive Canadian Customs is with one-handed openers, they probably could have found a way to classify it as a weapon, but they didn't.

I'm glad that you'll at least be able to get it back! And just remember, very few stories involving alcohol and sharp knives have happy endings!

Agreed............I concur with just about all of the replies except one or two.