http://www.eenveiligamsterdam.nl/themas/overlast_en_criminaliteit/wapenbezit/ may help explain it, but it does seem extreme to me.
Did they ask for your ID?
You could always query it at your local police station. You could have asked for a receipt for it or for them to make a process verbaal for you I believe. Or did they do that?

My wife is Dutch and says the problem is that at the moment there have been a number of stabbings. So searches have intensified. They also extend the area for things like football matches or if the queen (or other important person) is visiting an area. Yes the area is extended seemly without much information being published.
This sort of action does not stop the stabbings, because if I was carrying a knife, with criminal intent and saw a lot of police doing searches I would simply walk to the next station.
I am glad to see that you are not furious with them. I suppose the best you can do is put it down to experience.

It's always a problem for people on such duties to know where lines should be drawn. I am sure you would not expect to bring such a knife on to an airplane in your hand baggage.

I also normally carry a knife with me. That's because I am a pipe smoker and have a "companion" which is a tool with a blade, a tamper, and a reamer. When I travel by air, I put it in the checked baggage.

Recently I visited El Escorial, just outside Madrid. They have heavy security there, and I put my jacket through a scanner. Of course the companion showed up, and the security guard wanted to confiscate it. Before I had a chance to protest, a senior officer -- senior in age, anyway -- intervened and pointed out that it was for the pipe which was also visible on the scan. So I was allowed to keep it. [The blade is 2" long, but rounded rather than pointed.]

Hi hetismij -

Hope things are going well your way.

Yeah, they asked for my ID so I gave them my residence permit and passport. They also gave me a receipt for the knife - although since I can't get it back, I don't know what good that does. They were quite polite and it was all good natured - as I said they were joking around about it.

This was at 5:00 PM in the middle of rush hour. Not late at night or at a time I would think would be more suspicious. But what do I know about the habits of "weapons" carriers? Since I still maintain I am NOT one. ;->

I read the link you sent - it talks about "weapons" but I have to admit I would never consider a small Swiss Army knife a "weapon". What if you're going on a picnic and have some kitchen knives in you picnic basket? A corkscrew? What if you're a repairman and have a screwdriver? A hammer? They even mention baseball bats. While I can understand how they can be used as a weapon, what's a kid who plays baseball supposed to do? It's all quite puzzling to me.

Oh well I'm just chalking it up to an interesting travel experience. I hope. And it did entertain everyone a the party last night!

Hate that.Having lived in a few different countries I often saw the exploitation of the foreigner.
I was robbed by an airport official in Gatwick. She knew I was rushing and she confiscated my Estee Lauder lip pencil, brand new. I knew that my choice was get it back or miss my flight, so I chose the latter. However, I asked her why and as she stared at her latest collection she quipped "cos it is flammable." Heh!
Always get their name.

ribeirasacra - thanks for the info. Not happy to hear stabbings have increased in Amsterdam. And of course I support logical actions on the part of the police to prevent crime.

But I agree with you - it would have been quite easy when I walked in the station and saw police milling about everywhere, to just go out and get on my bike and transport a "weapon" that way.

My DD (21) was with me and she wasn't searched or questioned. If she'd been carrying my purse I'd still have my knife. DH carries his Swiss Army knife to work at the med center every day (may change that now). So it all seems sort of arbitrary and illogical to me.

Instead of just chalking it up to experience, I'm going to conclude that those handsome young Dutch policemen just wanted an excuse to pat me down! ;->

Norcalif...there is always something positive in life...even if it comes in a uniform.

Norcalif - if it were me I would maybe talk to the local police about it - just to see what they think. Try phoning them. i know it doesn't get your knife back but it would be interesting to hear what they define as a weapon. My son works in Amsterdam a lot and always carries his Leatherman with him for instance (an essential bit of kit for a sound engineer, along with Duck tape - a bit like McGyver ), I now he would hate to lose it. Even manage to con it onto an aircraft as a piece of equipment along with the sound gear he had to carry on!

The link also tells you the areas where "weapons" searches are permitted without due cause.

Look on the bright side - at least you had your ID so they couldn't fine you for that

And can you introduce me to your handsome Dutch cops? I have yet to meet any my neighbour is our wijk agent - and he is 55, bald and not very good looking!

I do not understand how this can be characterized as "exploitation of the foreigner" so just what am i missing here?

The poster AGREED to be searched; the poster states that she UNDERSTANDS the need; a receipt was given for the item...I am not sure about the "can't get it back" part..I'd sure pursue that...and of course those policemen saw this woman approaching and said to themselves, "she's GOT TO BE foreign for sure..let's stop her."

This is "exploitation?"

My opinion is you have no complaint. The police did their job.

The Heading of this post is very Misleading..The policemen did not rob you, they were just doing their job..

This has nothing to do with expoitation of foreigners, why blow things into something they are not. Presumably the same thing would have happend to a native-born Dutch person, I can't believe they confiscated the knife just because the person didn't have a Dutch passport.

They were just doing their job, obviously. Now I might agree that it doesn't make much sense if searches are voluntary and the issue about not being able to carry it home is a good question (although you could get it by mail).

However, I always would presume a knife is a weapon, I absolutely would think of it that way. I know what a Swiss army knife is, also, and I still think of that as a weapon, in terms of criteria of any place that bans weapons. It is a knife.

hetismij - that's a good idea to call them to clarify things further. It is all sort of confusing to me - and evidently to the Dutch people I've talked to also.

I wonder if they confiscate scissors, tools, knitting needles, etc. I would have been REALLY mad if I'd just bought a set of expensive kitchen knives or screwdrivers or something and had them taken away from me on the way home from the store because some metro/train station I went through had suddenly, unbeknownst to me, been declared a "special" zone.

I asked how the public knows when a place becomes a "special" zone where normal items are not allowed, and they said it is posted on the police website! Well I don't know about you, but I haven't usually made a practice of checking the police website every day. Maybe I will now - you know, I'll have a link to it like you have to a weather site: 50% chance of showers and 30% chance of your metro station becoming a "special zone" today.

But on to the really important part of the subject - yes, I would be very glad to introduce you to the local handsome police officers! ;->

My very limited experience with Dutch cops makes me think they are good humored and fair.

When I lived in Amsterdam a (very) long time ago, one incident sticks in my mind. A fellow on a barge moored near us began putting out little containers with growing plants in them. He then put up a sign, saying, "Marijuana Plants for Sale - One guilder" . The barge was moored right across from the local police station, btw. In no time two cops came aboard and asked the owner if he really had Pot plants for sale. They said that he was under arrest, and to come across the street.

He replied that what he was doing was perfectly legal, and opened up a copy of the Dutch criminal codes, which he had conveniently to hand, and showed them a passage that said something like, "It is illegal to grow or sell Canibis Sativa plants for the purpose of smoking the flowering parts. It is legal, however, to sell the plants for the purposes of making rope (hemp), or for planting wind breaks in your garden."

"Do you guys want to buy some for windbreaks?", he asked.

The cops laughed and left, or so the story goes. I know the sign was still up when I was there, and those little sprouts were rippling in the North Sea breeze.

What's in your garden Hetismij?

nukesafe, as I said my neighbour is the local cop, so aprt from a few weeds the birds have left me nothing but other weeds I'm afraid. I don't partake of the stuff anyway so no point in me growing it.
Dukey i think Norcalif's tongue was firmly in her cheek when she posted the title to the topic. She doesn't seem to be complaining too much to me, she's just puzzled, as I would be if it happened to me - I am a foreigner too, but am fluent in Dutch so maybe would have queried it a bit more (and probably would have been arrested for my troubles ).

Wow, NorCalif, an unfortunate happening indeed. We were in Amsterdam not long ago and considered it as safe as any metro center. It does seem the police were overly zealous though wouldn't consider it a robbery. So did you move on from there and have a good time? People do get stuck with bad things and it can blot out the good. Afterall you weren't physically threatened or in danger.
Ozarksbill

Hi,

Sorry, I might be reopening this old thread, but I had a similar experience yesterday.

I am (Non-EU) PhD student in Amsterdam and I was returning from work when I was stopped for a routine Guns, Knives police control while entering a metro station. I told them that I had a swiss knife (actually a leatherman wingman multi tool) in my backpack, which I use at work. The police decided that it was still easily accessible and that I would have to pay a fine and the multitool confiscated, since there is now a city wide Knife ban ?

I am now to wait for a letter from the Justice department which will decide what my fine would be.

How serious is this offence specially since its is a multitool ? How much is the fine generally ?

The police officer said he would mention that I was co-operative in his report and that it is a multitool. I was given a receipt(which had a waiver that I am giving up the multitool) and something else with my information on it, a citation I guess ?

This has upset me specially since I was not told what the fine could be nor how serious an offence this can be with respect to future work or even applying for visas to other countries.

You should not have surrendered the knife. The police would still have confiscated it, but if the court decides you are innocent then you could have got the knife back. Now you can't.
There is a local bye-law (APV Amsterdam, art 2.5) in Amsterdam forbidding the possession of all knives in public, but there is an exception for knives which are packed in such a way they can't be used immediately (e.g in a blister pack). They are especially keen on checking for these on public transport.
You will probably get a hefty fine, if the prosecutor agrees with the confiscation. It shouldn't give you a record. Pay the fine and it is done with, or you can have your day in court, which may result in a higher fine, or the case being dismissed.

I'm not sure how good your Dutch is but there is lots of information about all this on the Web, in Dutch.

Thanks a lot, I dont mind losing the multi-tool / knife. It is good to know that there should not be a permanent record. I was willing to pay the fine there itself, but apparently that was not possible.

I have started using Google translate to look at the law and I see there is a ban on all sharp things which can be used to stab with since October 2012. I just did not think it would result for things that are legitimate tools.

I guess I just have to wait it out and hopefully the fine doesnt cost me a lot of my monthly paycheck !

IMO you were robbed. Some policemen are angels, some are thieving b**s. I was found to have a leatherman at Schiphol a few years ago. The guard gave it back & let me board with it! The police have plenty of discretion in these matters. I could tell you worse stories.

Wow, so you're saying I could have been arrested for carrying around that 6 inch blade serrated knife in my back pack every day in Amsterdam? How else was I supposed to cut the bread and the cheese when we stopped to picnic or snack?

Does this mean that one can be indiscriminantley stopped and searched by police authorities near public transportation in Holland? Aside from the obvious problem of the police interpreting the use of and possession of anything considered to be a weapon or knife, this is an enormous invasion of one's person and property. Not appealing or comforting!
What a shame.

I believe european law says that blade length needs to be less than 4 inches. (the leatherman wingman is about 2.65 inchs)

It seems the Mayor can impose a blanket ban if the areas show heightened criminal activity. Apparently it has been that Central Amsterdam, The west, east and south east is under this blanket ban.

This has been the second time I was controlled. The first time I had the multitool in my pocket and I was told to keep it in the bag, but this time inspite of it being in the bag, they found it to be easily accessible as it was in a top compartment and not in a box or wrapped in secure fashion.

As far as I know you are not allowed to carry any knives/ multi tools/ sharp objects (<< This is really overzealous and disappointing) that can be used readily (I guess those that are not in a pouch or in packaging) in a metro.