Authorities are warning people across the country not to buy cell phone cases that resemble guns after a rising number of incidents involving the accessories has led to misunderstandings between civilians and police.
"If somebody had this in their back pocket and a police officer comes upon them on a core stop or they're just walking to the deli to get a coffee, chances are that that person would be stopped at gunpoint, thrown down on the floor, handcuffed, and that item removed,” police inspector
Kenneth Lack of New York's Nassau County told ABC7 News. "It's something that could be easily mistaken for a weapon in the daylight, much less in darkness."
Lack also encouraged parents not to buy the cases for their kids.
"If your children currently have it, please take it away . . . it’s not something they should have on them. It will absolutely only get them in trouble," he said.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey also condemned the phone case on a Facebook post with a complementing photo montage showing just how closely the case resembles a weapon:
The New York City Police Department agrees that the smartphone accessory is a bad idea, even though they are not illegal.
“You pull this thing out on a cop, they’re going to shoot you,”
former NYPD officer Joseph Gialcalone told CBS New York. “There’s no law per se, but you have to use the law of common sense, which I’ve learned in my lifetime isn’t very common."
Beyond the authorities, the public does not appear to be big fans of the product either.
“My reaction would be you're asking for trouble with that," Johnny Martin, a Bethpage, New York, resident told ABC7 News.
Gunjan Kathuria, of Dix Hills, agreed, saying that he “would never buy anything like that” for himself or for anyone else. “That's absolutely ridiculous," he told the local station.
Tony Herbert, a New York activist, also weighed in on the issue.
“It’s not a joke. This item is being sold in our communities, we’re now researching exactly where,” he told CBS.
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