How do handcuffs work

That is a hard one to answer because I feel that officer safety is priceless! Over the years, I have evaluated a majority of handcuffs available in the US.

The below categories shows the areas you should evaluate all handcuffs from. Phase 3 - Evaluating your handcuffs Proper evaluation has always been a major problem. Here are a few categories to closely look at prior to purchasing your handcuffs. Take your current handcuffs through this evaluation process and compare it to others. Solid Structure a. Type of materials used for the construction of the handcuffs 2.

Internal Locking Mechanism used a. Cam Locking Mechanism 3. Ease of Cycling a. Ease of cycling the single strand 4. Strength of the handcuff themselves b. Overall durability of the material used 5. Cheek Plate Strength a. Strength of the cheek plates, ease of separating or bending while being on 6.

Accommodating Sizing a. Various subject applications for sizing b. Compare your current ones to 7. Double Lock Strength a. Ease of bypassing the double lock 8. Control Factor a. Prior to applying the handcuffs, measuring the control in officer's hands and of physical control of the subject after being secured.

Can you clean them and have them still perform at the same level of expectation prior to cleaning them Climate Effected a. How easily does climate effect your handcuffs So there you have it, the first effective design changes for handcuffs in over a century, and it is called GOTCHA!

But enough of the future stuff, for now all you have to do it get a pair and evaluate them yourself. He is also the Chairman of PoliceOne. Dave graduated from his first law enforcement academy in , and now has over 25 years of combined civilian and military law enforcement and training experience.

He was a sworn corrections and law enforcement officer in the state of Florida and has served as a gate sentry, patrol officer, watch commander, investigator, Special Reaction Team SRT member, leader and commander in the United States Marine Corps. Dave has participated in and trained both military and law enforcement personnel in crowd management operations throughout the world.

Dave is recognized as one of the nation's leading defensive tactics instructors specializing in crowd management, chemical and specialty impact munitions, protocol and selection of gear and munitions, ground defense tactics, and water - based defensive tactics.

He is a former staff noncommissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps, a member of the Police Magazine advisory board, and a technical advisory board member for Force Science Research Center. More Product news. More Product Originals.

A standard pair of modern handcuffs weighs no more than 15 oz g. The minimum opening of the bracelet is 2 in 5 cm. The minimum inside perimeter of the bracelet is 7. The maximum perimeter is 6. The maximum overall length of the handcuffs is 9. According to National Institute of Justice Standards, a finished pair of handcuffs must be free of 16 defects to be deemed acceptable for use.

Defects include corrosion, broken or loose parts, or cracked or incomplete welding. Finished handcuffs are put through a variety of tests to ensure practicality. They are blasted with salt for 12 hours. After that time the product should not have severely corroded or discolored, and they should function as normal.

Handcuff standards also dictate that a handcuffs cannot be opened when a tensile force of lbf is applied for a minimum of 30 seconds. Parts cannot be missing, broken, malformed, loose, or not in proper alignment. Rivets and pins must be secure. The rivets and pins must be free of any burrs, slivers, sharp edges, dents, or tool marks, and the metal must not be split or cracked.

The end of the pin must be set below the exposed surface of the plate. Welding must be complete and free of cracks. Manufacture markings must be present, visible, legible, correct, and permanent. The key must be able to unlock the handcuff.

The handcuff must be able to be double-locked. Also, it should require no force to remove the handcuff. The openings and closings of the handcuffs must function properly. In the manufacturing of handcuffs, there is not much waste. Any defective steel can be either recycled or melted down and remolded. Waste from the salt testing is minimal. In some cases, they are handcuffed in front and not behind their back.

Some people, due to their significant size or lack of physical dexterity, may require two pairs of handcuffs hooked together to secure their hands behind their backs. Every case is different and it is the officer's responsibility to weigh the level of security needed against the individual's physical limitations.

Most departments or jurisdictions have set policies on the age at which a child can be handcuffed. Some jurisdictions make the distinction between a child aged twelve or less and a teenager thirteen to seventeen. Most police are given discretion in handcuffing teenagers depending on the circumstances and seriousness of the offense.

Phobias must be taken into consideration during the handcuffing process. These are quite serious to the persons afflicted with them. Most people with phobias will tell the officer at the time of the arrest. With regard to being handcuffed, some persons suffer from merinthophobia, or the fear of being restrained.

If they aren't given the proper attention, they may suffer extreme anxiety or panic attacks. This could also trigger an irrational fight or flight response. After a thorough search, cuffing an afflicted individual in front may be one solution.

A second related phobia is claustrophobia, which is a fear of tight spaces. This is usually triggered by a situation where an individual is confined to a tight space, like the back of a police car.

It is up to the officer to take their mental state and fear into consideration. One reasonable accommodation may be to transport the subject in a larger vehicle, such as a prisoner transport van. Handcuffs, when properly applied, are effective for temporarily restraining those who must be lawfully restrained.

Placing handcuffs on an individual is both a necessity and a responsibility. Learning when and how to properly handcuff individuals is essential for every police officer. Police department policies differ, and it is important that each officer knows and understands their particular agency's policies regarding handcuffing.

Once the handcuffs go on, the officer takes responsibility for the safe transport and well-being of the restrained subject. The art and science of de-escalation will take time, training and practice to master. Read up on applicable skills here. In a job where every second makes a difference, you need to be sure your police duty belt is set up for maximum efficiency. A proper death notification is a duty and an honor. We walk you through how to prepare for this difficult assignment.

A well-run police agency will plan long in advance of any act of civil unrest, not when hundreds of protesters have already assembled. Considering becoming a bodyguard? CA Consumer Privacy Act. It appears your browser does not have javascript enabled. Picking handcuffs, while does take practice, is relevantly simple in theory.

All we need to do is mimic the form and motion of the key in the locking mechanism. This can be accomplished with any small strand of hard but formable wire such as a paperclip or a bobby pin.

For the purpose of this guide, we will be demonstrating how to pick handcuffs using a bobby pin, but of course, you may mimic these directions using any piece of material you wish to try. Take note that tampering with and picking handcuffs is much easier when your hands are in front of you and you can visually see what you are doing rather than feeling about.

If you are restrained with your hands behind your back simply maneuver them under your legs so that the cuffs are in front of you. The process of picking handcuffs can be broken into three steps: First forming the bobby pin, then disengaging the double-lock, and lastly placing enough pressure on the single lock to push it off the arm's ratchet teeth and allowing the cuff to open.

With that let's start by forming our bobby pin. We then need to remove the rubber tip from the end of the straight section. This is done much easier with pliers, so if you plan to carry around a couple of bobby pins for the purpose of picking locks, it isn't a bad idea to prepare them in advance. Next, we have to form the end of the bobby pin so that it can be maneuvered into the lock and apply a rotational pressure on both lock bars.

Then apply pressure on the shaft of the bobby pin bending it in the process. We must first disengage the double-lock. To do this insert the pick into the upper cutout of the lock ensuring that our bent tip is pointing away from the center of the cuffs. Once our pick is in, rotate and apply tension in the counter-clockwise left direction to mimic the motion of a key.

Continue to apply tension onto the double-lock until you feel it give and stop. This one by nature is much simpler to pick. Just like the double-lock, insert your pick into the keyhole but this time with our bent tip pointing towards the center of the cuffs. Once our pick is in, rotate and apply tension in the clockwise right direction to once again mimic the motion of a key.