Cuffs as weapon

SO, I'm way interested in the forum now.

There was a case about a year ago here in California, where a man that felt he was unreasonably arrested (toss in maced and beaten) broke free as he was being cuffed, and stood there with one cuff on the arm, one in his hand. Witnesses testified that he was making no verbal threats nor gestures beyond standing there, but the two police shot him dead, claiming that he was weilding a lethal weapon (the cuffs).

I understand that this forum is more about the appreciation of cuffs, but how do you feel about police 'giving' a lethal weapon to a person that may use them as such, given half the opportunity? Also, what developments have been made in handcuff technology to reduce this potential?

Thanks for the thoughts.

I can't speak about the incident you mention without stating that I wasn't there, but if some guy was able to break away from me while only cuffed on one hand....oh my do I have a serious problem! The cautious approach is that the cuffs start to go on once the suspect has been contained, which if there was more than one police officer must have seemed, for a moment, to have been achieved. When the guy got away from the police, well, I can't say I wouldn't have panicked at that point myself. Cuffs have a serated edge when not closed, are made of metal, and can hurt and leave injuries if used in an attack. One of my former bosses showed me a method of holding handcuffs to work like a pair of brass knuckles, with the added advantage of being able to rip flesh. Not that I've ever done that myself, but it comes back to mind when this subject came up.

SO, I'm way interested in the forum now.

There was a case about a year ago here in California, where a man that felt he was unreasonably arrested (toss in maced and beaten) broke free as he was being cuffed, and stood there with one cuff on the arm, one in his hand. Witnesses testified that he was making no verbal threats nor gestures beyond standing there, but the two police shot him dead, claiming that he was weilding a lethal weapon (the cuffs).

I understand that this forum is more about the appreciation of cuffs, but how do you feel about police 'giving' a lethal weapon to a person that may use them as such, given half the opportunity? Also, what developments have been made in handcuff technology to reduce this potential?

Thanks for the thoughts.

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Gotta agree with Bruce, hard to add much without details and not being there. But the key here to me is you stated the subject had been beaten, maced, and tossed about, BUT was still able to break away from two Police Officers. A normal person is not going to be able to keep fighting like that without the aid of some chemical help (Meth, Coke, etc.)Given just this info, you did not say what commands the Officer's gave, what reaction the subject had to being at gunpoint etc. Police are under no obligation to retreat and in almost every state, are authorized to use whatever force reasonable to affect an arrest. Cuffs make a horrible scar when used as knucks or a cutting edge. Given all other resources exhausted, I see no problem with ridding society of another "model citizen" of he is weilding anything from a car jack to a pair of your own cuffs.