HITCH KING

Sources: NYPD warns about weapons hidden in cell phones
BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA | rocco.parascandola@newsday.com
11:03 PM EDT, July 6, 2009


A razor blade can be concealed in a cell phone, police say. (Handout / NYPD / July 6, 2009)


The NYPD has found an unintended use for the T-Mobile Sidekick and other hand-held devices - a razor blade can be secreted in their battery compartments, police sources say.

At the same, sources say, officers have been alerted to a recent Harlem arrest in which a cell phone recovered from a suspect had been converted into a stun gun. And officers guarding prisoners in hospitals have been told that meal trays have a vanity mirror that can easily be fashioned into a makeshift shiv.

The NYPD routinely alerts its officers to unique and creative weapon making, everything from knives inside lipstick containers to steering wheel security devices that can be converted into shotguns.

Police sources say the makeshift weapons are often a result of a heavy police presence in certain areas or a push to keep guns off the streets. Last year, for instance, knives and other sharp objects were the weapon of choice in 125 slayings, up 50 percent compared to 83 such killings in 2007. Gun murders, meanwhile, dropped to 292 last year, from 347 the year before.
But knives, or at least razor blades, are much easier to hide. An unofficial missive making its way around a number of precincts shows how easy it is to hide a razor blade in the battery compartment of a T-Mobile Sidekick and other devices, in the narrow space between the back cover and battery.

A spokesperson for T-Mobile could not be reached for comment Monday night.

Another warning concerns the seizure of a stun gun cell phone, sources say. The improvised weapon was unlikely to cause much harm, as the jolt was described as low-level.

More formally, an internal memo circulated departmentwide Thursday warns that the hospital meal tray "could pose a threat to police officers, prisoners and hospital staff." The vanity mirror, the memo says, is in a second-level compartment and can pop up for easy use by a patient. Accompanying the memo is a photo of a cracked mirror.

Sgt. Carlos Nieves, a police spokesman, said the memo came after an officer noticed the mirror in the tray and saw the potential threat. "There have been no incidents where an NYPD officer has been assaulted," he added.

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C9H13NO3

You have got to be kidding me. They actually tried to contact T-Mobile about this "issue"? People have been hiding stuff for years. When I was young and dumb, I used to keep a short piece of bailing wire in my back pocket...it worked great as a handcuff key. I don't even know what this article is targeting. Phones? Razor blades? You can make a weapon out of just about anything. Maybe we need to all live in padded cells where no one can get hurt.

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Paco

How about we just ban stupid people, that'll solve all the problems we have with crime, the economy, politics, that moron in front of me on the highway...

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Arko

How is that T-Mobile's problem? What comment did they expect? :We were unaware and will change our design immediately"? What a crock.

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TucAzRider

Hmmmmmmmm..... If we're not nut's to start with, we will be after that..

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Der Alte

Same arguement the sheep use on guns - they kill people. Guess they don't know that more people are killed each year by automobiles. They also don't think rocks, bats, knives, trees, bicycles, etc, etc., do the same thing.

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joker1

NEWSFLASH....

It has recently been discovered that human beings are sometimes gifted with the amazing ability to weaponize anything.


The only way to combat this plague is to ban everything!


OR...we could put murderers to death so we have more room to keep the criminals in jail where they belong.


Joker1

InspectorGadget

Take cover he's got a featherduster :) Couldn't resist :)

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mercop

Up to the officer to check everything. Everything is either and impact or edged weapon.- George

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PastorPack

Reminds me of a co-worker from years past who didn't want his kids playing with anything that even resembled a gun. One day he found his boys had chewed their toast into a handgun shape and were shooting each other.

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