Sources: NYPD warns about weapons hidden in cell phones
Photo credit: Handout / NYPD | A razor blade can be concealed in a cell phone, police say.
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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