As a New York City criminal defense lawyer, I have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of arrests being made for possession of a knife. Now the New York Police Department is targetting individuals who have knives with clips.
The police have been on lookout for these clips and when they see the clip, they search the person with the clip. They have made numerous arrests for knives that are not actually illegal.
The most common charge is criminal possession of a weapon, a midemeanor which outlaws gravity knives, which open by centrivical force. We have heard accounts of the police slightly opening the knife and then flicking it to try and claim it is a gravity knife when it is not.
Even when the knife is not outlawed by the Penal Law, the New York City Police are charging people with violations of the New York City administrative code. The Code outlaws knives with four inch blades or knives in open view. The New York Police are taking the silly position that since the clip is in public view, this provision is violated even though the knife cannot be seen.
Our New York criminal defense lawyers regularly defend those charged with knife crimes.
