Handcuffing Tips

e) Cuff Adjustments

Use the fingertip rule to check for cuff tightness in middle of the single strand (or the middle of the double strand) in other words, on the sides of the wrist.

Doing so at handcuff mouth (ends of the double strands at the top and bottom of the wrist) is meaningless as cuffs are not adjustable at these points.

Make a note that the cuffs have been double locked as to prevent accidental tightening from occurring (it also makes picking the cuffs much more difficult to achieve).

Flex cuffs cannot be loosened and are inferior to standard handcuffs, so use them sparingly (e.g., in mass arrests).

If they have slipped the cuffs to the front of their body, then attempt to have them reverse it (or they can do the “duck walk” of shame into the jail).

PRO TIP: Perhaps they are just showing off their flexibility, but maybe they have ditched unfound contraband or are setting up to attack you (use back up with these characters, especially if they are unable to at least partially reverse their handcuff positioning).

Sometimes, two (or even three) interlinked cuffs must be used on the muscle-bound inflexible types (best of luck trying to get the rigid hinged cuffs on these arrestees).

Arrestees with very small wrists might require a direct cuff-to-cuff application (or use an extra set to take up additional space), but thankfully these cases are rare as the overly large-wristed types.

Improvisations can be made like purposefully inserting a sleeve jacket far into the cuff enclosure as to take up extra space.

Cuffs can be placed through a belt to keep them from being slipped to the front.