Why don’t cops carry knives instead of batons?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “police duty belt knife“
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Why don’t cops carry knives instead of batons?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “police duty belt knife“
About Ximena
We do. I carry two. One is utilitarian and one is a last ditch effort to save my life.
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Most cops I ever worked with carried a knife. Some carried folding knives, some carry confiscated switchblades, etc.
Cops use knives for a variety of reasons. Sometimes to pry a door or window, when required. It’s an insurance policy in the event you need to cut yourself or someone else out of a seat belt. And, yes, it would occur to cops in a last ditch resort to use it for self defense.
I still have my “cop” knife, a folding blade which, like many cops’ knives, is missing its pointy end tip (which was broken off years ago prying a car door of a car that had a pet in it on a hot day, to crack it enough to get a slim jim in the door.)
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When used as a weapon in any kind of realistic fight, a knife will always be a deadly force weapon. In other words, the use of a blade will be considered “intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm.” A baton, on the other hand, can be weilded in a way which does not rise to the level of deadly force. Striking a person on the side of one thigh will cause both knees to buckle due to stimulation of the common peronial nerve, for example. This will likely result in severe bruising, but it is not deadly force. A baton can also be used for leverage in several types of control holds. Using a baton to strike the head, neck, or any target which is likely or intended to break a bone or cause death is deadly force, though.
A knife would only fill the same role in the Use of Force Continuum as a gun – deadly force. A baton can fill that same role or fill a lesser, non-deadly role. It is the feasibility of using the baton in a different force level than the gun which makes it useful to carry alongside a gun. A knife can’t replace a baton in that capacity.
Many officers do carry knives as weapons, but it is generally as a last-ditch backup for their gun.
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I know many police officers who carry knives. I do.
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A lot of cops do carry their standard issue batons and knives unless their department has specifically prohibited the latter. But in a tense situation their tools of first choice would be their sidearm or the baton as these tools are what the great majority of law enforcement have been trained on. I would venture to say knife-trained cops would be in the minority in most police departments unless they had a high percentage of ex-military servicemen/women.
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Ditto other answers.
Another one would be that you don’t want to increase the amount of open wounds and blood around. There’s quite a lot of diseases that can be transferred using blood, HIV being only one of them.
Yes, bullets generate wounds and blood too, but under normal operation, the shooter isn’t going to be in touching range.
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They carry knives as a safety tool for extractions (seat belts) at accidents, etc. Batons are a defensive weapon – worlds of difference.
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Some municipalities in the United States have actually moved away from allowing officers to carry edged weapons. They believe (incorrectly or not) that the liability from the officer injuring or killing a suspect (or being injured themselves) is too high to make a knife an acceptable risk.
Additionally, knives take practice to use correctly and efficiently. Many departments simply don’t have the resources to train officers in knifefighting techniques, especially when the officers have a Taser, pepper spray and a baton. And again, many probably do not want the responsibility or liability if their officers wound or kill a suspect (or is wound themselves) with an edged weapon.
Reference:
http://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/2012/02/09/law-enforcement-and-knives/
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Who told you that?
Many cops carry that special knife saved for that one purpose— cutting seatbelts to extricate someone from a car in an accident. Maybe another one for last ditch saving your life type of thing.
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Cops do carry knives. But it is a last resort wepon or tool. Extremely deadly and messy. Baton is non lethal weapon used to gain control over suspect. Not kill him.
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We do…as other posters have said…I carry two as well, one for utility and the other for weapon retention and other emergency use.
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Batons and clubs don’t get stuck in the body of the person you use them against so hard that you can’t get them out again like knives do.
Besides that point hitting somebody with a baton is seen as just a bit of a beating instead of an attempt to kill them. This is true even in spite of the fact that a good strike to the spine with a baton can paralyse a person and a good strike to the head with a baton can kill a person.
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Many do. It’s not a weapon it’s a tool. There are superior weapons for situations you might think a knife would be appropriate.
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Why don’t police officers carry knives?
In the US, they usually do. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there.
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A knife is a form of deadly force. When it is used as a weapon, it is meant , or at least is presumed to be meant, as a form of deadly force. Cops already have handguns for the purpose of delivering deadly force. And, all things being equal, a gun is a better deadly force tool than a knife. (Not to say that a knife in the hands of someone who really knows how to use it isn’t damned deadly, too).
A baton is meant to be used when something less than deadly force, but requiring more force than pepper spray, empty hands, or closed fists can deliver, is needed.
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Batons are capable of more different levels of force than a knife.
Batons have greater reach.
Batons can be used for leverage in some types of holds.
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To David Cimperman Jr:
Now why the hell should he do that? He didn’t state he was a cop nor did he state he was going to become one in his question , he’s just a normal dude like everyone else, it’s not his common sense that is running low it’s your failure to consider that it’s not his responsibility to already have knowledge on this police stuff. He doesn’t need it. He was only curious and apparently you’re too narrow minded to realize that and give him a proper AND polite answer .If we’re going to talk about common sense here then he would believe a cop would use a shovel to dig something up instead with a knife, like seriously how tf is a tiny sad knife better at digging stuff up than with a shovel, if anything a knife is better used for self defence……. and btw ‘thoes’ ‘sence’? Yeah, don’t tell someone else to fix their common sense when you can’t even spot and correct simple spelling mistakes. Embarrass yourself if this continues, I couldn’t care less.
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Most police officers do carry knives, but more for use in mundane cutting chores. As a weapon, it’s at best a “last ditch” weapon. In fact, I carry a K-Bar “TDI” fixed-blade which is advertised as just that…A “last ditch” weapon.
The baton is actually superior for it’s intended purpose. About the only time the knife could come into play is when you’re wrestling with a suspect who is trying to gain control of your handgun. In such case, you’re at very close quarters and one hand is tied up trying to keep the gun in it’s holster.
The free hand can draw the knife.
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batons will be easier to use and therefore require less training. also, they have greater reach. Plus, batons are not used when there is a severe threat to life, in which case a gun would be used, so you don’t want something more deadly like a knife.
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Some do. But for what purpose do you think they should? For those that do, we use them for utility. Scrapping, digging, cutting, etc. Always some instance where you want to pry something, dig into something at a crime scene, but if your one of thoes….who think we should counter a knife attack with our own knife…. You should look into refilling your commons sence. Your running low.
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Couple reasons. 1) Use of a knife would be considered “deadly force.” A baton is not. 2) Because you would have to get much closer to strike with a knife as opposed to a baton.
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