Proper Handcuff technique

[The Director]

Saw this on the news this morning....I guess this woman was DUI and was being arrested after crashing her car in a solo accident on the freeway. The cop seems to be having a little trouble here...not that a belligerent drunk wouldn't be trouble.

I'm curious as to his technique here. Her right hand is cuffed and he seems to have her in a half nelson...what's the next step in the process? Why is his leg jammed into hers like that?

I'm a martial artist so I know all moves have a meaning....just looking for the "methodology" on this one....

[9mmepiphany]

well...first i don't see her right hand as being cuffed

it looks like he's just trying to "tie up" her left arm to keep from getting a hard elbow to the face. we were taught to control that hand into a rear wrist lock

the leg started between hers to be inside her center of balance...it looks like he just doesn't want her to step back.

the next obvious step would be to slam her head into the hood of the squad as a distraction to secure the arms...

[The Director]

You're right...on closer insp. he doesn't have her right hand cuffed, which looks tricky since she's obviously resisting.

[mlatino]

The fail here is pulling out his cuffs before he had control of her.. Now he's gotta fight her with his support side while he's got cuffs in his strong side.

[ilbob]

Many years ago I took some "advanced" security guard training. One of the things that was covered was handcuffing. Part of the training involved trying to cuff the instructor (an off duty sheriff's deputy) who was mildly resisting (mostly just by laying down and squirming a bit).

I became convinced very quickly that I never wanted to try and cuff someone.

It looks so easy on TV, but in the real world it is very hard for a single person to cuff a resisting person, unless you are willing to unleash some serious nastiness on the guy you are trying to cuff, or can convince them you will do so if they don't submit.

[SVT-40]

handcuffing an uncooperative person by yourself is difficult at best Akin to trying to put a mad cat in a paper bag

Especially a woman. They Generally are more flexable than men. It's very difficult to keep them from twisting around on you and squirming out of holds which would keep most men facing away from you.

[jamesob]

that is the about to jam your face in the hood technique.

[tyrist]

That is not a cuffing technique...that is what happens when you pull out your cuffs prior to securing the suspects hands.

[9mmepiphany]

I became convinced very quickly that I never wanted to try and cuff someone.

it's isn't as hard as it looks if they aren't overly uncooperative. the trick is being sneaky and fast

handcuffing an uncooperative person by yourself is difficult at best Akin to trying to put a mad cat in a paper bag

that's where the sneaky comes in...assuming your car has a cage, i've been known to throw them in back while waiting for help. an overwhelming show of force has it's uses

Especially a woman. They Generally are more flexable than men. It's very difficult to keep them from twisting around on you and squirming out of holds which would keep most men facing away from you.

the most useful "control hold" for women (IME) is the twist-lock. i can crank that further than any wrist-lock...plus i don't need to get as close, in case they're slimy

that is what happens when you pull out your cuffs prior to securing the suspects hands.

i used a set of hinged cuffs, which i could snap on both wrist surprisingly fast. even if i only got one wrist, once it was on, i owned that arm. i found a little twist was all it took to get the other hand around...you have to know which direction to twist for effect

[sgtbuck]

When someone resists arrest it never looks pretty like in training. I had many suspects that were very cooperative that would all of a sudden resist when they would hear the first click of the cuff on there wrist. You can never drop your guard and must be ready for anything.

I was at one scene that it took five Officers to get the guy in cuffs. This was after he seriously injured two Officers. One of the injured Officers had to have his jaw wired shut and spent a week in the hospital. Batons, pepper spay nothing worked. It just pissed him off. We did not have tasers in those days. I am also very sure had it been video taped we would have all been in DS because it did not look good us trying to arrest this guy. We did what we had to and gained control of the situation.

[retired]

sgtbuck, I recall one like that when I was a cadet and on my week ride along. It was a 5150 call and the guy was standing behind the driveway wide gate at his home. The handling leo would order him to show his hands, but he would only show one at a time. (Tho dangerous, it was actually sort of funny, but you had to be there).

After a few minutes of this, he finally ran thru a door on the side of the garage (a converted bedroom). About 5 deputies ran inside to cuff him and he fought them all. The officer I was with ordered me to stay outside with him as it was too crowded. Right after that, a deputy broke the nose of another deputy as he reared back with his baton. Seems the Yawara handle hit him in the nose on the backswing.

The deputy I was with said, "See what I mean."

They finally got him cuffed, but he was really wild.

[MP301]

It usually doesnt look as pretty as it does in training, but this CHiPee isnt doing it wrong. It looks to me like the cuff is either already on her wrist or is just about to go on. With women or guys with skinny wrists, sometimes you can cuff a bit higher up the arm.

If the cuff is on or makes it on, the next step will be to move his left hand from behind her neck to her left arm and spin her arms together to her back and cuff her left wrist. Her next trip will then be over the hood as he is finishing cuffing her.

Having his leg between hers effectively pins her to the car as well as stopping her side to side movement. Notice how she is on her tip toes which reduces her effectivness to resist...cant get much traction if your weight is of the ground.

This officer, from what you can tell from a still photo, is calm and in control. Id like to see the video of this if there is one...

Saw this on the news this morning....I guess this woman was DUI and was being arrested after crashing her car in a solo accident on the freeway. The cop seems to be having a little trouble here...not that a belligerent drunk wouldn't be trouble.

I'm curious as to his technique here. Her right hand is cuffed and he seems to have her in a half nelson...what's the next step in the process? Why is his leg jammed into hers like that?

I'm a martial artist so I know all moves have a meaning....just looking for the "methodology" on this one....

[The Director]

This officer, from what you can tell from a still photo, is calm and in control. Id like to see the video of this if there is one...

No vid that I know of - this pic was on the OC register web page.

[fal_762x51]

This is how I was trained.

For non combative/cooperative people (dirty run down):

Face me, hands in the air, spread your fingers, turn around, put your hands behind your back with your thumbs up in the air. Move with bladed stance, take cuffs out with key holes up and holding the links with a top right hand fist (single strand pionted toward the suspect), shuffle toward the person, grab their right hand in put them into a control hold (bent wrist lock if I can remember the term), place cuff on right wrist (no slapping, just a constant pushing motion). Grab left hand/palm, still have your right top fist grab on the cuff links, place second cuff on left hand and then double lock the cuffs. Start pat-down search with right hand on the cuff links, transition to left hand top fist grab on cuffs to finish off the search.

For all other situations (most common to me):

Take the person down (takedown, O.C. taser, baton, etc) and get the damn things on anyway possible.

[CaliTheKid]

I think we should refrain from sharing actual step by step cuffing techniques in a public forum.