Any Handcuff laws??

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I was reading one of the other threads about handcuffing someone and some people were saying that it opens you up to a lawsuit from the perp and I understand all of that, but are there any MA Laws about carrying handcuffs in case of such an event? Im preety sure you can purchase them i just didnt know if you could throw a pair in the car etc...
 
Be very carefully before attempting to handcuff an individual. It is a easy way to get yourself into a big problem. If not don't properly you will wind up on the losing side in a heartbeat. You are also providing that person with a great weapon it you lose control.
 
Just make sure the person can't move on their own and you won't need handcuffs.
 
I have handcuffs in my car, there a rear view mirror window ornament (which is illegal in ma as far as I understand)
 
If you are talking about needing handcuffs for the purpose of a citizens arrest I would strongly recommend being a good witness and leaving the handcuffing and arresting to the real police.

Before a private citizen can effect a warrantless arrest for a felony he must rely on a higher standard than “probable cause.” He must have knowledge that the suspect did “in fact commit” the felony. The Court stated that the higher standard of information required for a citizen’s arrest is designed to discourage such arrests and to prevent the dangers of uncontrolled vigilantism and anarchistic actions. Commonwealth v. Klein,
372 Mass. 823 (1977).

THE “IN FACT COMMITTED” STANDARD: The “in fact committed” standard of evidence required to effect a felony arrest only applies to a purely private citizen, i.e., someone with no arrest powers at all. If the private citizen has sworn arrest powers from any city or town within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, he or she may then effect a citizens arrest for a felony on the lesser (but more familiar) standard of probable cause. It is important to understand at this point that just because a person has police power in a particular city or town, it does not automatically mean that they have police power anywhere within the Commonwealth. Their police power only extends to the geographical boundaries in which they are sworn. Therefore, generally, when they effect a felony arrest outside of their territorial jurisdiction, they will be acting as citizens.

WHAT DOES “IN FACT COMMITTED” LEGALLY MEAN? In Commonwealth v. Harris, 11 Mass. App. Ct. 165 (1981), the Massachusetts Appellate Court stated, “[g]enerally, the person arrested must be convicted of a felony before the ‘in fact committed’ element is satisfied and the arrest validated. If the citizen is in error in making the arrest with a level of information below that of “in fact committed,” he may be liable in tort for false arrest or false imprisonment. “The obvious purpose of this requirement is to deter private citizens from irresponsible action by exposing them to possible civil liability if it turns out later that the arrested party is innocent,” stated
the Court in Harris.

WARRANTLESS MISDEMEANOR ARRESTS BY CITIZENS IMPERMISSIBLE: In Commonwealth v. Grise, 398 Mass. 247 (1986), the Court held that a private citizen cannot effect the arrest of a person for a misdemeanor, even if it amounts to a breach of the peace. This is true even where the private citizen is a Massachusetts municipal police officer from another Massachusetts jurisdiction.

If they are for the bedroom then have at it...just do not lose the key. It is pretty humiliating to have to call the local PD to come over in the middle of the night to unlock you!! Yes it happens!![shocked]
 
When I took LFI-2, Ayoob gave us a brief introduction into handcuffing. His point was NOT to encourage us to handcuff someone. Instead, his goal was to show us just how hard it would be to handcuff a non-compliant person.

While I still have the pair of handcuffs that I purchased to take LFI-2, they remain in a cupboard in the basement. I suspect that we've all watched an episode of Cops (or something similar) where it takes a pig-pile of 4 or 5 large police officers to handcuff a struggling perp. I have a hard time imagining a situation where I would deliberately place myself in close contact with a perp and then given him an impact weapon (a handcuff on one hand).

I agree with cricco on this. Leave the handcuffing to folks who have trained in it, do it all the time, and have lots of backup available.
 
I do think it is a good idea to keep a pair in your SHTF arsenal, I kept the ones I was issued years ago for you know... just in case the natives go wild. Not sure if zombies can pick locks though...
 
So, basically, if you watch them shoot or stab or rape someone, or blow up a building, it's OK to handcuff them?
 
Unlike TV, handcuffing someone is not as easy as it looks. Rarely do they just stand there and let you attach them. In any case, it takes two hands for the most part which means you will be required to secure your firearm. To not do so if usually the reason for many AD's.
 
I have handcuffs in my car, there a rear view mirror window ornament (which is illegal in ma as far as I understand)


Been there... done that.[smile]

Back in my long hair and leather metal days I used to have a "decorative" pair of cuffs hanging from my rear view mirror.

At the the time I was also dating a not-so-bright, but knock-out adventurous redhead from the warehouse that we both worked at. [wink]

One day during our lunch break we took off in my car for food and a quick "snack". Before we had a chance to enjoy or "meal" she spotted the cuffs and for whatever reason (still unknown to me), she decided to cuff herself to the free end hanging from the mirror.

As I recall, it went something like this...

Her (as she reaches to put her wrist in the cuffs): "These look awesome!"

Me: "No, don't. I don't have"...

(click)

the key"!

I (we), ended up driving the 2-3 miles back to work (in Rt 9 traffic in Natick), back to the warehouse with a giggling redhead attached to my rearview mirror.

When we got back I had to go looking for an allen wrench to detach the mirror from the windshield. Couldn't locate one so I ended up snapping the mirror mounting button off from the glass (I was temped to leave her there the rest of the day [smile]).

Fortunately, it was a cheapo set of cuffs and I was able to pick the lock open (but not until she had to wear them the rest of the day [smile]).
 
So, basically, if you watch them shoot or stab or rape someone, or blow up a building, it's OK to handcuff them?

Apparently NOT. It would only be ok if after going to trial, the person you cuffed was convicted of said felony.

I would opine that if you are witness to a crime (even if you know it is a felony), you open yourself up to civil litigation if you attempt to effect a citizen's arrest (or intervene at all).

If the crime is an imminent threat to your life or that of a loved one, you shoot the perpetrator and expect to be run through the legal ringer and then sued by the [dead] perp's family.

If the crime is a direct threat to the life of a third party, and you feel strongly compelled to help, you get a good description and cooperate with any investigation.

Just my opinion as a resident of a litigious, firearm-phobic state...
 
So, basically, if you watch them shoot or stab or rape someone, or blow up a building, it's OK to handcuff them?

If you've already watched someone shoot, stab, or rape someone, or watched them blow up a building, why would you WANT to get in a wrestling match with them trying to handcuff them? You know they are willing to murder someone. What makes you think they will just stand there while you put the cuffs on?
 
If you've already watched someone shoot, stab, or rape someone, or watched them blow up a building, why would you WANT to get in a wrestling match with them trying to handcuff them? You know they are willing to murder someone. What makes you think they will just stand there while you put the cuffs on?

The only thing needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
 
Have actually TRIED to handcuff someone who is resisting? Have you ever handcuffed someone who was NOT resisting?

Difficult in either case. And you can't do it with one hand for the most part. Way too many times I've seen officers get one cuff on and have the guy/girl break lose. Now they are swinging a pointed weapon around. I laugh when I watch tv and these people just stand there while being cuffed. More of my people were hurt trying to put the restraints on then actually fighting with these people.

So stay away from that thought and stay safe.
 
The only thing needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

That's way oversimplified. There's a lot of ground in between doing nothing and getting a good description to help LE put the perp away. There's a lot of foolish ground between the latter and subduing the perp on your own.
 

You aren't helping anyone by getting yourself injured and possibly losing your firearm in the process. Popular opinion is do not try to handcuff anyone if at all possible. I would not suggest even carrying them.
 
You aren't helping anyone by getting yourself injured and possibly losing your firearm in the process. Popular opinion is do not try to handcuff anyone if at all possible. I would not suggest even carrying them.

Another good post by rscalzo. If you have any LEO friends, ask them about handcuffing. AFAIK, it is generally regarded as a two-man job - one to cuff, one to stand by, armed. And that's cops, who have some experience and actually know what they are doing. Non-LEO have no intelligent use for handcuffs. I have some from when I was a rent-a-cop, but I would NEVER carry them. No intelligent use.
 
very good advice from both rscalzo and isr2kba. The best advice to give to anyone is to be a GOOD WITNESS unless it involves a life threatening situation to you or a loved one and then handcuffing should not be an issue.[wink]

This advice is also given frequently to police officers for when they are off-duty, and they are trained professionals.
 
Just saying If it was life or death for someone not helping for fear of ones own life is what criminals count on. If it was your wife would you want a witness to watch her life be put in danger or prevent it? Good watchers don't prevent the outcome of a crime they just punish the perp in court. I could not live with myself if I watched someone be raped or murdered etc etc and did nothing to help.

Just my opionion not passing judgement on others.
 
Just saying If it was life or death for someone not helping for fear of ones own life is what criminals count on. If it was your wife would you want a witness to watch her life be put in danger or prevent it? Good watchers don't prevent the outcome of a crime they just punish the perp in court. I could not live with myself if I watched someone be raped or murdered etc etc and did nothing to help.

Just my opionion not passing judgement on others.

I would be forever grateful for a citizen to save the life of my wife however I do not have an extra bedroom in my house for this citizen to live in when they lose their own home.[shocked]

I would not want a person who is not trained or experienced in this type of situation to potentially make it more dangerous for my wife either.
 
Just saying If it was life or death for someone not helping for fear of ones own life is what criminals count on. If it was your wife would you want a witness to watch her life be put in danger or prevent it? Good watchers don't prevent the outcome of a crime they just punish the perp in court. I could not live with myself if I watched someone be raped or murdered etc etc and did nothing to help.

99si: Are you actually READING what is being posted here? Because it sure doesn't seem that way to me.

I NEVER said don't intervene. I never said don't stop someone from killing or raping someone else. Here is what I posted previously. Try reading it this time:

If you've already watched someone shoot, stab, or rape someone, or watched them blow up a building, why would you WANT to get in a wrestling match with them trying to handcuff them? You know they are willing to murder someone. What makes you think they will just stand there while you put the cuffs on?

Does that say you should do nothing? No, it doesn't. What it implies is that you really don't want to try to handcuff them. Here's my post before that. Read it this time:

When I took LFI-2, Ayoob gave us a brief introduction into handcuffing. His point was NOT to encourage us to handcuff someone. Instead, his goal was to show us just how hard it would be to handcuff a non-compliant person.

While I still have the pair of handcuffs that I purchased to take LFI-2, they remain in a cupboard in the basement. I suspect that we've all watched an episode of Cops (or something similar) where it takes a pig-pile of 4 or 5 large police officers to handcuff a struggling perp. I have a hard time imagining a situation where I would deliberately place myself in close contact with a perp and then given him an impact weapon (a handcuff on one hand).

I agree with cricco on this. Leave the handcuffing to folks who have trained in it, do it all the time, and have lots of backup available.

THAT is what this thread is about -- handcuffing someone. I have had minimal training in handcuffing people. Just enough to realize that 1) it isn't that easy to handcuff a compliant person, and 2) it is very dangerous for a single person to handcuff a non-compliant person.

You've already had two police officers in this thread explain to you that many police officers are injured while trying to handcuff perps. And they've been trained in handcuffing and are experienced at it.

I'll ask you again: have you ever handcuffed someone? What training do you have in handcuffing someone? Explain to me in what type of situation it would make sense to handcuff someone.
 
M1911 is correct. Handcuffing a compliant person is difficult at best under ideal conditions. Add into the situation your firearm which is in one hand and it becomes even more difficult.

There are some individuals who will be compliant for a police officer who is attempting to handcuff them as they are aware that the officer will have backup arriving and that the police WILL win the battle and that there are consequences for resisting arrest such as additional charges etc...

I am willing to guess that NO ONE will be compliant for a citizen who is attempting to handcuff them..... Why would they?

It is very easy to severely injure someone by the misuse of handcuffs.

PLEASE LEAVE THIS TO THE PROFESSIONALS or at the very least consider yourself warned ahead of time and place your assets in others names, keep Scriveners phone number memorized and keep $40.00 bail money in your wallet.[wink]
 
Decade+-old bump. I can't find a legislature/case-backed evidence supporting denying the legality of possession of flex cuffs themselves?
 
There was an incident at the Museum of WWII (now closed) in Natick. A kid on a school outing picked up a pair of German or French WWII cuffs and tried them on. The museum did not have a key and did not want to destroy the artifact. So, instead of cutting the kid's hand off, they called a locksmith who found an image of the cuffs online, looked at the key (it apparently wasn't the standard modern cuff key) and got them off without damage.
 
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