Solving The Problems Of Handcuffs

Criminals and suspects, on whom handcuffs are used

, are generally highly skilled and nimble-fingered people who may find ways to get out of these shackles. So law enforcement agents are forced to find newer solutions for making handcuffs effective. These are the most effective restraining devices that can be used on a man without physically injuring him. And over the years handcuffs have evolved into a wide variety of forms as well. Many old models like Bean leg iron shackles, Cobb handcuffs, Bean giant handcuffs, and the unique McKenzie Mitts that virtually encased the wearer's hands in iron, have become collectors' items today. Both single locking handcuffs and double locking handcuffs and variations of these are commonly used nowadays.

Modifying the styles in handcuffs has been necessary to improve its effectiveness and make it easy to use. Formerly, a suspect's hands were tied in front of him and not behind him. That made it easier for the bound person to walk, but it also made it easier for him to escape, or get help, or pry open the shackles. So, later more and more policemen opted to bind the suspect's hands with handcuffs behind his back to make escape impossible.

However, walking is more difficult when hands are tied behind, with more possibility of the prisoner tripping and injuring himself. As such someone has to be in constant attendance with the prisoner when hands are tied behind. Further, the cleverer among the prisoners are able to twist their body to the extent of bringing their cuffed hands to the front. This too makes it a must that a prisoner has to be continuously accompanied even when his hands are locked with handcuffs.

Policemen and handcuffs manufacturers do their best to avoid the possibility of a prisoner escaping or tampering with the cuffs. One way in which they do it is having an additional panel over the lock so that picking the lock becomes more difficult. Or some law enforcement agents use an extra padlock in addition to the built-in locking mechanism the handcuffs have got. So far as that extra lock is stronger and cannot be tampered, escape will be impossible.

The extra lock makes the handcuffs secure because one of the main reasons for prisoners escaping from it is that there is a master key that can open all handcuffs. While this becomes very handy for law enforcers, the availability of such a key makes escape easy for prisoners as well. Police generally take care of this by searching the prisoner thoroughly to make sure that there is no hidden key anywhere on the person that could open the handcuffs. However, a different type of handcuffs that cannot be opened with the common key is used on prisoners who require a higher level of security.

Police also reduce the risk of handcuffs tampering by resorting to the double locking mechanism. Many handcuffs have the provision by which it can be single locked as well as double locked. To be single locked, the key is turned to the left. The same key, when it goes a full circle to the right, double locks the handcuffs. In that mode it is difficult for the lock to be pried open even when the prisoner is a master craftsman.

However, Houdini was also human and he went on getting out of handcuffs. So policemen are always extra careful.

by: Sunil Punjabi

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