Police Gear: Handcuffs

Well there's not much to say about handcuffs that most don't already know, but I felt a post was needed as they are a very important part of the job and a piece of gear all officers use.

Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individuals wrists close together. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge or in the case of rigid cuffs, a bar. Each half has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchett that prevents it from being opened once closed around a person's wrist. Without the key, the handcuffs cannot be removed and so the handcuffed person is unable to move his or her wrists more than a few centimetres/inches apart, making many tasks difficult or impossible. This is usually done to prevent suspected criminal from escaping police custody.

Hand positioning

In the past, police officers typically handcuffed an arrested person with his or her hands in front, but since approximately the mid-1960s behind-the-back handcuffing has been the standard. The vast majority of police academies in the United States today also teach their recruits to apply handcuffs so that the palms of the suspect's hands face outward after the handcuffs are applied.

The Jacksonville, Florida Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and others are notable exceptions, as they favor palms-together handcuffing. This helps prevent radial neuropathy or handcuff neuropathy during extended periods of restraint. Suspects are handcuffed with the keyholes facing up (away from the hands) to make it difficult to open them even with a key or improvised lock-pick.