While watching an episode of Law and Order I noticed them arrest someone wearing a cast but the scene quickly changed. It made me wonder, I don’t think handcuffs will fit around your average arm cast. What do police officers do when they have to handcuff someone but they have an arm cast? Also if you know, what do they do in jail if they have to put leg irons on someone with a leg cast?
Thanks for any replies,
AllFree
Maybe use riot cuffs (zip ties).
That would work but I’d love it if someone could give either an answer from practical experience or a cite.
I’m not a police officer, but I’ve seen a guy with a wrist cast who had his good arm handcuffed twice, with the chain looping through his belt. (Obviously not a good long-term solution.)
I’ve often wondered what they do when handcuffing a one-armed man. I assume the belt trick can still be used, unless the guy is not wearing a belt.
also, while Zip-ties will work, a detective for instance probably won’t be carrying any unless they have reason to believe they will be needed.
Flex cuffs aren’t used anywhere near as often as “Cops” and some news shows would lead one to believe. For one thing, they are only useful on someone who is cooperative. Getting them on a combative subject is all but impossible.
Policy dictates that everyone be cuffed behind the back unless there is an extreme situation. I had a man once so obese his arms wouldn’t go behind enough for cuffs to fit, so he got cuffed in front.
In the case of a cast or missing arm a subject can be cuffed (using 2 sets) to their belt on each side. If they’re combative we can put them on a gurney or wheel chair and cuff their arms and legs to the rails. There are others things that can be done. In extreme cases improvisation has to be used.
I’m curious, if the cuffs won’t fit around a cast, what stops the subject from unhooking their belt and freeing their other arm? How do you cuff them on the cast side? Obviously this isn’t a problem in the case of someone with only one arm.
It seems to me that if the arm is cuffed behind their back, they can’t unhook their belt.
Simply use a back up officer to use an escort hold on the subjects arm. Even if the subject isn’t combative there is also nothing wrong with cuffing to a gurney or wheel chair in circumstances like this.
As long as we’re on the subject; Are police required to cuff all offenders (when arresting)? Or are you allowed to make a judgment call for each situation?
I’m not an officer, but I think in recent years the cops have been burned enough by arrestees that appear cooperative, only to get a punch to the back of the head.
That being said, my indiscretion with the law back in the 90s had the officer tell me that he had to take me in and to have a seat (in the front) of his patrol car. We walked into magistrate court like two friends and I was released on my own recognizance. I can’t see that happening today.
Zip ties are used more in some jurisdictions than others, I suppose. When I asked this question of my paramedic/firefighter fiance, his immediate answer was “use zip-ties”. His most recent work was in New York State, but he’s also worked in Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
They also make oversized cuffs, he says.
As a paramedic, he has his own set of cuffs, because when a police officer hands you a prisoner to take to the hospital, you have to secure that prisoner to the Stryker. He’ll open the cop’s cuffs and use them to secure one arm to one side of the transport, and use his own cuffs on the other arm.
I read somewhere that all handcuffs can be unlocked using the same key. Is that true?
For the most part, yes. There are standard keys for cuffs and the like. That way any officer can uncuff the suspect, not just the arresting officer. As you can see, they come in a wide array of sizes and shapes, but the operating end looks the same.
We were taught to always cuff someone with the keyhole facing away from their hands for that very reason. If they have a key secreted on their person, they still won’t be able to reach the keyhole.
Surprisingly, yes. All standard issue police handcuffs have the same key, and anyone can buy them. This makes sense from a safety standpoint, so you don’t have to uncuff and recuff a prisoner every time you trade officers, and also for the aforementioned paramedics who may need to reposition and secure a prisoner during transport.
While it may seem foolish from a security standpoint, I suppose that’s one reason why they thoroughly check your pockets when putting you in custody.
It all has to do with the departments written policies. All departments have to have a set of written policies. If an officer follows written policies he/she is not going to get fired, convicted, or successfully sued even when things go bad. When officers get fired, convicted, or successfully sued it usually involves violation of the departments written policies. This is not legal advice, I am not an attorney nor your union rep.
I’ve been on a couple of departments, one full time for 25 years until retirement, a couple part-time including the one I’m on now. Every one of them had a policy that all arrested subjects be cuffed, and cuffed behind the back unless there were extenuating circumstances.
They’re still teaching that, but not as strictly as they used to. There are a couple of cuff makers (I believe ASP is one) that are making cuffs with key slots on both sides.
Doesn’t matter either way. If you’ve ever had someone fight like crazy you don’t care where that key slot is, you just want to get them on and the subject under control.
Wow, I’m surprised how simple those keys are. I’m looking at the various handcuffs on that website. Is there a particular model that’s most often used by police departments?
As far as I know, every key on that site is the same, just looks different. They all open the same cuffs (AFAIK). I have S&W cuffs, Peerless, and Hiatts (my favorite as they are extremely lightweight. Every officer I show them to freaks over how light they are) and every pair is opened by the same key. I have a standard key in my glove pouch, as well as a “key keeper” (a key hidden in one of my belt keepers) and a key on the key ring on every vehicle I own. Every key looks different, but they all open the different cuffs I have.
Keep in mind, arrested people are not left to their own keep. They are in custody and held, escorted, watched, etc… If escape were as easy as the simplex keys lead you to believe, it would happen so often that the keys would in fact be quickly changed.
Here’s the standard restraint procedure we use in NY prisons. You handcuff the prisoner in front of his body. You secure the handcuffs with the locking pin. You put a “black box” on the handcuffs (this is a hinged plastic piece which covers the keyholes and prevents the prisoner from putting tension on the handcuffs by twisting them). You place a waist chain on the prisoner and run it through the black box and around his body at the waist. You secure the waist chain with a pad lock behind his back. You shackle the prisoner’s ankles with leg irons.
If the prisoner is in a cast, has an injured arm, only has one arm, etc. you have to adjust this procedure. Generally, you’re going to attach the handcuffs to the good arm and then attach the other end of the handcuffs directly to the waist chain. You obviously can’t use an equivalent procedure for leg irons. But somebody in a leg cast isn’t going to be much of a runner anyway.
I still want to know, if cuffs won’t fit around a cast, where do you put the cast on that side? their upper arm?