I used to work for a an aerospace company that occasionally had to take equipment at the last minute to the launch site. Some part failed on a countdown and we had to receive the equipment replace the failed part test it and send it back in a very short time The rocket was on the launch pad and people did not want to miss the launch window. My office mate got to take the box back to the launch. We had long standing arrangements with air port security on how to have the equipment not go through the X-ray machines. When we knew the box was coming back we called the air port and gave them advance notice that someone would be coming. I believe that he had to get to the air port a few hours ahead of when you would normally get to a flight and present a lot of paper work to security. This was more than 20 years ago so I would not be surprised if it is more complicated today.
The equipment in my story was for a government rocket. I don’t remember if it was a NASA project or a military project. The point is that it is possible to have arrangements to deal with airport security if needed and the government feels that there is a legitimate need.
My father had a moderately senior role in the UK’s Royal Mail - in other words, the Post Office - by the Seventies. From childhood memories, I can remember him talking about a security system they used in transferring cash from the local head office for deposit in a nearby bank.
The gist of it was that the courier was tied to the briefcase. I’m not sure whether this was via a set of handcuffs or a more simple cord.
The key point was then that they were not especially worried about the thief getting control of the briefcase by yanking it away. For the chain or the cord would then trigger a mechanism within the case that would launch two extendable, but unretractable, poles from the base of the case. Thereby impeding their flight.
I’m not sure whether this was a matter of explicitly handcuffing the case to the courier or something more subtle. The strategy suggests that you might actually want the criminal to be able to snatch the case without noticing the link, but then simply physically not be able to get away with their prize.
Today we either ship it via FedEx (if it is non-ordnance or energized) or drive it via courier. I’ve never had to do a cross-country trip but I’ve carried items from a test site to an inspection facility and return with just enough of a break to get dinner. Trying to get anything through airport security is a tossup; sometimes they won’t blink an eye about carrying a box full of Beaglebone boards through a checkpoint, other times they’ll hold a piece of luggage for having a handheld digital multimeter.
This is what happens when you allow idiots to run your circus.
If you are in a country where the Heads of State are under threat of assassination or whatever, and you see the huge armed police escort followed by the Presidential Limo, and then another trailing armed escort, you can bet on one of two things.
Either
a) The Prez is actually in one of the police or armoured vehicles
or
b) The Prez actually travelled a few hours earlier in an unmarked car, or is going in a totally different direction.
I can’t understand how this would work.
I can see how a briefcase could contain an expandable bolt,(built like an antenna), which might extend a few feet outside the case.But what good would that do? It would just create a long handle sticking out of the case,(sort of like a typical piece of luggage on wheels, which has a collapsable handle that exands up to the height of your waist.)
The most recent use in a movie I can recall was the 2011 documentary Morgan Spurlock did about the San Diego Comicon, “Comicon Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope” where we see the couriers for an extremely expensive Marvel comic transport it to the con in a briefcase handcuffed to their wrist.
Handcuffs are considered a weapon by TSA so any private courier having to carry them on a commercial flight would have to get prior permission from the TSA and the airline.
A related trope is the briefcase containing “a million dollars” or some similar large amount delivered in a briefcase, usually handcuffed to the deliverer.
One of the CIA officers who went into Afghanistan with a Special Forces unit not long after 9/11 to destabilize the Taliban said that he was given a million dollars (or similar large amount) to help purchase the loyalty of local warlords. After signing a gazillion documents for receipt of the money, he thought it would be given to him in a briefcase, like the movies. What he found was that even with fairly large denominations, there is no way to fit that amount of money into a briefcase or any other small carrying bag. He was given a fairly large crate full of cash, that he spent a lot of time having to watch over while moving around the countryside, usually sleeping on top of it.
I would think that handcuffing the case to their wrists would be inconvenient when you need to use both hands for something, but some sources claim it’s done:
Worse than that briefcase trope is the “prisoner cuffed to the cop” trope. I just saw this in the final episode of The Fall (not a bad series, BTW). How dumb would it be to handcuff yourself to a confessed serial killer? In 30+ years of law enforcement I’ve never seen anyone do it.