# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/61 "2016-03-03T15:29:03Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I’m amazed that 1/3 say they have been handcuffed. I’m not. People who have been handcuffed are disproportionately likely to respond to a thread asking whether you’ve been handcuffed, as compared to people who have not been handcuffed. This type of issue is at work to one extent or another in virtually all polls on this MB, and they are therefore useless as indicators of broader society. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/62 "2016-03-03T18:14:57Z")
> [@PaulParkhead](#): > > Oh, I was guilty too. I was too. All the times. But, I still reserve the right to blame society at some later date. Plus, why don’t the cops use the fuzzy cuffs? It seems like they’d be more comfortable, maybe people would be less unhappy to have them on. I know I’d be more willing, just because it implies something more fun than jail. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/63 "2016-03-04T00:20:05Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Plus, why don’t the cops use the fuzzy cuffs? It seems like they’d be more comfortable, maybe people would be less unhappy to have them on. I know I’d be more willing, just because it implies something more fun than jail. Because we don’t want perverts breaking the law just to get arrested. ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/64 "2016-03-04T18:59:52Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I’m amazed that 1/3 say they have been handcuffed. I’m on the other size, I’m amazed that 2/3 haven’t. For comparison sake, at a social gathering last night, I asked this question. 8 out of 9 of us had been handcuffed by the cops at one point or another. I’m guessing we run in very different circles. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/65 "2016-03-04T19:21:48Z")
Sort of…I played enemy force (a particularly cowardly terrorist) in a large Urban Warfare Ex and was zip-tied, searched (several times), and detained for some time. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/66 "2016-03-04T20:39:28Z")
Just out of curiosity, by and large aren’t zip ties now used in place of handcuffs? Or are they just used when there are too many people to be cuffed for the number of handcuffs available? ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/67 "2016-03-04T20:46:51Z")
When I was growing up cops would handcuff you and search your car if they smelled pot. So yes. ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/68 "2016-03-04T21:28:02Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Just out of curiosity, by and large aren’t zip ties now used in place of handcuffs? Or are they just used when there are too many people to be cuffed for the number of handcuffs available? I’ve been restrained with both plastic and metal cuffs. When I was part or a large protest group and they where arresting multiple people, they used zip ties. When I was detained and delivered to a psych ward, they used metal cuffs. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2016, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/69 "2016-03-05T13:42:30Z")
Never ever. ---
**Author:** ![Graymalkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@Graymalkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graymalkin)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/70 "2016-03-06T03:25:48Z")
Arrested numerous times in my youth. Funny, though, I don’t have a single memory of being handcuffed, although I am sure I was, or that it hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/71 "2016-03-06T15:25:13Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I suppose in the technical sense of the question, I have to answer yes. > > When I went through the police academy, we spent quite a lot of time learning handcuffing technique and of course, we practiced on each other. Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/72 "2016-03-07T12:55:23Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I suppose in the technical sense of the question, I have to answer yes. > > When I went through the police academy, we spent quite a lot of time learning handcuffing technique and of course, we practiced on each other. > [@Clothahump](#): > > Ditto. You’re ditto-ing yourself? 😕 Do zombies get handcuffed? ---
**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:** [March 7, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164/73 "2016-03-07T19:04:39Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > You’re ditto-ing yourself? 😕 He obviously couldn’t have said it better himself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-been-handcuffed-by-law-enforcement-personnel/691164.md?page=3)