# Have you ever been handcuffed by law enforcement personnel? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 19, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164 "2014-06-19T19:28:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/21 "2014-06-20T14:14:51Z")
No, but I suspect my day will come. ---
**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/22 "2014-06-20T18:55:59Z")
No. Being 71 in a few days,I don’t expect to be. But the day is young-ish ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/23 "2014-06-20T19:09:45Z")
Oh hell yeah. Not only do they hurt like a bitch, they make sitting in the back of the cruiser even more uncomfortable. Not more uncomfortable than two cops on either side working you over, but uncomfortable nevertheless. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/24 "2014-06-20T19:15:57Z")
Yes. And to be fair to the arresting officer, he was quite careful not to hurt me with them. In fact, when I was sitting in the police station/barracks/whatever they’re called in Pennsylvania they attached one of the cuffs to a bar on the wall, and I realised that I could actually remove my hand from the other cuff. I decided that drawing attention to this would be a bad idea, so I put my tiny hand and wrist back in the cuff and sat there meekly. But I could have absconded through the nearby door before, presumably, being stopped at gunpoint and facing another couple of charges. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/25 "2014-06-20T19:48:00Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’ve told the story before here. The moral is “Never walk out of a bank at 10 pm carrying large tool cases, having been seen entering said bank at 9 pm, even if you are there on completely legitimate business.” > > I had NO IDEA how many sheriffs were drawing a bead on us until they called all-clear and we heard the rattle of safeties going on all around. Maybe… fifteen? > > This all began with a relaxed exit from the bank, hearing, “Um, gentlemen?” and looking over to see a 500-caliber muzzle looking at us with a sheriff attached behind it. We were only aware of him and his partner on the other side, not the arc of deputies out in the dark parking lot. Just think of how bad it would have gone if you were a _Professional_ Barbarian. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/26 "2014-06-20T20:33:00Z")
Twice arrested for outstanding speeding tickets. First time was held in a holding cell with a guy who said he was 'wanted for extortion in another city and that he hoped the cops here didn’t have any way of knowing that.'I didn’t bother telling him I thought he was fucked. Parents had to bail me out. Second time the lady who arrested me took off the cuffs when we got in the car cause she could tell I was a nice guy. On the ride over she was asking my opinion of what she should get her husband for his birthday. It’s very surreal to be arrested and asked questions like that. When we got to the station she had to place the cuffs back on for appearances. Asked me if I was doing all right. I was held in a much larger cell that time with about 20 other guys and one communal toilet that was screened off in the middle of the cell. Needless to say I refused the offer of ice tea. Was let go on ‘new day’. Which means they don’t have room to hold people like me. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/27 "2014-06-20T20:36:25Z")
At least a dozen times, I have no criminal record. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/28 "2014-06-20T20:44:09Z")
Every time I arrested and taken to jail I was hand cuffed first. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/29 "2014-06-20T22:08:02Z")
Yep. Both as an able-bodied young-un _and_ as a paraplegic in a wheelchair (being handcuffed in a wheelchair is fucked up. You can’t move!). :eek: ---
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/30 "2014-06-21T00:21:06Z")
I have been handcuffed a few times, unlike everybody else reporting in I was guilty. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2014, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/31 "2014-06-21T02:27:13Z")
> [@slowlearner](#): > > I have been handcuffed a few times, unlike everybody else reporting in I was guilty. Great username/ post combination. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2014, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/32 "2014-06-21T06:56:40Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > Every time I arrested and taken to jail I was hand cuffed first. I was arrested for murder once, with handcuffs. But I didn’t get booked . Instead of jail they took me to the homicide office and put me in a small room with a glass wall through which they repeatedly came to in order to stare at me. As mentioned above, handcuffs hurt when they tighten them too much. But the real discomfort, in my case, was that the squad car front seats were way too far back, so there was no leg room in the back. That made being handcuffed with the hands behind the back, while sitting in the back of a squad car, and being suspected of murder, all the more trying. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/33 "2014-06-22T17:44:33Z")
About a month ago me and a friend were pulled over (actually my car overhead, so I had pulled over before I even saw them to refill the coolant and they showed up) for being in a suspicious area, the cops made us get out, we were frisked and handcuffed while they searched our car. It was a pretty scary experience, one I hope never to repeat. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/34 "2014-06-22T18:42:45Z")
> [@slowlearner](#): > > I have been handcuffed a few times, unlike everybody else reporting in I was guilty. Oh, I was guilty too. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/35 "2014-06-22T19:29:25Z")
If it was as part of a training exercise as a volunteer “actor,” does that count? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/36 "2014-06-22T21:49:31Z")
I talked back to a cop in NYC’s Penn Station. I was about 95% justified. Another cop came up behind me, cuffed me, and led me to the police station in the building. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/37 "2014-06-23T04:49:14Z")
> [@slowlearner](#): > > I have been handcuffed a few times, unlike everybody else reporting in I was guilty. I didn’t say I wasn’t guilty. I just didn’t actually get arrested and taken in. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/38 "2014-06-23T18:37:25Z")
Not I, but my FIL did tell me a way TMI story once about him, my step-MIL, a kitchen table and lost keys. :0 ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/39 "2014-06-23T19:01:16Z")
I’m amazed that 1/3 say they have been handcuffed. ---
**Author:** ![lbnd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b19c9b/32.png) [@lbnd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lbnd)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/40 "2016-02-23T19:17:23Z")
I have been handcuffed a couple of times by law enforcement, and released a couple of times without charge or being taken in. When arrested for an outstanding ticket, I was handcuffed and taken to jail to appear in court, had to wait over a holiday weekend and paid the fine on Monday afternoon. Most times, the handcuffs didn’t hurt, but there were times when they were applied very tightly, leaving marks on the wrist, such that you know who was in charge in the situation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164.md?page=3)