Knife Trends in Law Enforcement

There are many uses for knives, especially in law enforcement. They can be used as a rescue tool, in a utility aspect to cut something open or carried as a last-ditch defensive tool. The quality of knives has improved dramatically from prior years, too. It may be time to take a second look at the knives available on the market today.

Improvements in the product

Launched in January 2018, the M16-03KS from CRKT has a blade length of 3.552” (90.22 mm).

One word characterizes the progress in the knife industry: innovation. Innovation has helped knife manufacturers find ways to make a better quality product for less money. “The quality in manufacturing and the product itself has changed pretty dramatically,” says Tony Aliffi, vice president of sales and marketing at Boker USA. “What’s happened is that the manufacturing process has improved and the steel has improved in the knives themselves, so now the steel that we use is more durable, resilient and less corrosive. The performance and function have improved dramatically.” There are also more choices, Aliffi says. “You have a variety of different choices of steel now and there is machinery that we now use to manufacture and make the blades, the handles and components, so we can do a lot more with the knife to provide a good quality product for an affordable price.”

The way that a knife was made previously by some manufacturers, says Aliffi, is that they would have to take a piece of steel and heat it up—almost to a point where it was soft—and hammer it or shape it by hand. Today cutlery companies use a machine to stamp the blade or cut out the steel. “It just depends on what process people are using, but that’s one way technology has changed the knife,” he says.

Innovation in the product also includes additions to the knife category in general. “Knives with glassbreakers have become increasingly popular in the last couple years of law enforcement,” says Zero Tolerance (ZT) Knives’ Regional Sales Manager Brandon Bacon. “It’s a feature that can, and has, saved lives. Glassbreakers are great for emergency situations,” he says, “such as when a victim is trapped in a wrecked vehicle, or if a child is overheating in an abandoned car. Officers are increasingly looking for effective ways to handle such situations. Glassbreakers are an effective option.”

Boker USA’s Aliffi agrees. “The additions of glass breakers and seat belt cutters to the knife category, as well as the improvements in the quality of those components, has increased the use of the product for law enforcement.”

The innovation in the way knives are made has also led to a more affordable price for law enforcement officers. “As you look at the price points across the board, some in law enforcement will pay $300 for a knife and then there are those who will pay $100 or less,” says Aliffi. “Of course, it depends if they have a department that allows them an allotment of money to purchase a knife, but I think a lot of knives are paid for by the officer.”

When it comes to creating new knives and building on industry staples, Lindsey Phelps, brand manager, licensed products at CRKT says innovation is key. “[The knife industry] staples will always be there because customers will always want the standard, but consumers will also always want the next best thing. In law enforcement there are younger officers coming on board with their own wants and needs.”

Today’s needed features

If an officer is carrying a tool that he or she is betting their life on, it should be the best tool possible, says Thomas Benge, former sergeant and current master trainer with Cutting Edge Training. So, what should law enforcement officers be looking for in a knife? There are a few factors he believes all knives today should have. “Every duty knife should be a knife that you can open and close with one hand,” he says. “You want a knife that is actually durable, so a fixed blade is great because the metal is all one piece. When you start talking about a folder, where it opens and closes, there is potentially a stress point so we want a knife with little side to side wobble in the blade.”

Once the knife is open, however, it has to perform for a long time, says ZT’s Bacon. “This means that the blade must use hard steel that doesn’t need to be sharpened often and won’t break easily,” he says. “All of our ZTs are fit with premium, long-lasting blade steel. Officers need this cutting power for a variety of tasks.” He notes that knives with ball-bearing opening systems continue to be the latest trend he’s seeing. “They give you the ease of opening a knife without the resistance to closing the knife like an assisted opening knife.”

The KA-BAR Knives Last Ditch knife can be concealed just about anywhere and is intended to be readily available when all other weapons have been removed.

Beyond durability, law enforcement need knives that also come with ease of use. “Under high stress situations, the simpler the better,” says Joseph Bradley, sales and digital content manager at KA-BAR Knives. Ease of use is an important aspect when officers need to deploy their knife in a defensive scenario.

“In our courses, teaching people how to cut things and not cut themselves is important, as is training in the practice of each different type of knife,” says Benge. “The question officers often ask themselves is what type of knife they should carry.” Do they carry a folder, a fixed blade, an auto or a manual? “The fixed blade is going to be fastest to deploy,” says Benge. “The downside is the fixed blade is also fast for the offender to deploy. Autos typically require one extra step in the practice of employment, as most have a safety mechanism so that we don’t have unintentional openings in our pockets. Making sure your knife is easy to use in a defensive scenario is vital.”

When it comes to knife design and trends going forward, the biggest trend is a constant change in the latest and greatest design and steel, says KA-BAR Knives’ Bradley. “Unfortunately, this trend is very hit or miss. There is no substitution for reliability and a proven track record.”

Knives will continue to change, but durability, affordability, dependability and ease of use will be at the core of what law enforcement officers want in a product. “If you look at the knife industry you’ll see a lot of knives that are made of different materials and they have a lot of different features,” says Boker USA’s Aliffi . “In law enforcement, the trends are consistent with deployment of the blade, function and affordability.”

Create a policy and train

Thomas Benge, former sergeant and current master trainer with Cutting Edge Training believes almost all law enforcement officers in the U.S. carry at least one knife, yet not every agency ensures its officers know how to use it. “Each agency has its own unique knife policy, or lack thereof,” he says. “Even if you don’t have an ‘official’ knife policy, if everyone in your agency is carrying one and you know about it, then you have a knife policy, whether it’s formal or not.”

Benge typically sees the knife being employed primarily in one situation—when an officer is losing his or her weapon. “For police officers, the knife acts as a backup. If their gun is taken or lost, the knife is another option for responding with deadly force,” he says. “In all of the surveys we have taken in 18 years, when we ask the guys why they carry a knife, it’s always last ditch defense. Even if an officer tells you they carry a knife for rescue or utility purposes, in reality they are carrying it for defensive backup.”

The problem arises, however, when an agency has no official policy and no official knife training. “When it comes to knife training, it’s the tail wagging the dog a little bit,” says Benge. “In our training we see officers sometimes coming on their own or an agency will send an officer to check out the training, after they already have the knives, of course. A lot of agencies don’t know where knives even fit.” Law enforcement officers should be trained on all equipment they carry, especially on tools they may use in a deadly force scenario.

In an 8 hour end user course, Cutting Edge Training spends an hour on rescue and utility and the rest of the time is spent on the defensive use and the justification for the defensive use of the knife.

“When a police officer shoots someone with their firearm, it’s a big deal to the community and agency and people have a lot of questions,” says Benge. “But the thing is, the public sees it as an acceptable weapon. Most people think of the knife as a criminal’s weapon so now if we have an officer using a knife in a deadly force scenario, most people’s reaction is, Wow what’s going on?”

When it comes to using a knife in defense, LEOs always have to talk about the context under which the force was employed. “I ask my students to imagine that they respond to the scene of a crime, and there is a body laying there with 14 stab wounds. Almost all of the LEOs I train would think somebody lost their mind, they raged out and this was the result. Well, then I ask them, What are people going to think when you as a LEO use your knife and end up stabbing someone 15, 16 or 17 times? In addition to training how to use a knife, you have to be trained to justify the defensive use of the tool, too.”

Benge recommends agencies adopt a policy that specifies the types of knives that can be carried under certain circumstances and how the department is authorizing its usage, as well as training with the equipment.