Investigating the use of concealable and disguised knives
| Author | P F Mahoney,K Godhania,D J Carr |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0032258X17694176 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Investigating the use
of concealable and
disguised knives
P F Mahoney
ADMACC, Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Medical Directorate,
Joint Medical Command, ICT Centre, UK
K Godhania
Institute of Filipino Martial Arts, UK
D J Carr
Impact and Armour Group, Centre for Defence Engineering, Cranfield
University, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, UK
Abstract
Knife-carrying and knife crime is a significant issue in many countries. There are a number
of knives available for purchase that are designed to be concealable, or that are disguised
as everyday objects e.g. combs, pens and belts. In addition, an experienced knife-user will
be able to conceal knives around their person. The aim of the work summarised in this
paper was to study the concealment and deployment of a range of such weapons and to
raise awarenessof such threats to the blue-lightcommunity (police, ambulance,firefighters
and other first responders); allow comment to be made on the effectiveness of various
scenarios thata knife-carrier might use to carry anddeploy a disguised or concealedknife;
and measure the time to deployment of a disguised or concealed knife from different
locations on an assailant’s body so that suitable defensive responses can be designed and
assessed. High-speed video was used to assist in studying attack sequences and allowed
assessment of the speed of attack; this typically varied from 0.5 seconds to 2.3 seconds.
Keywords
Simulated attack, tissue simulant, blade, sharp-weapon, edged-weapon
Corresponding author:
D J Carr, Impact and Armour Group, Centre for Defence Engineering, Cranfield University, Defence Academy
of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham SN6 8LA, UK.
Email: d.j.carr@cranfield.ac.uk
The Police Journal:
Theory, Practice and Principles
2018, Vol. 91(2) 139–149
ªThe Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0032258X17694176
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