Officers in California’s Anderson County Police District are trying something a little different to keep the streets safe.
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Police in the northern California town of Anderson are being equipped with nunchucks to “more compassionately” gain compliance from suspects.
The police department in the town of 10,000 people was looking for a versatile tool that would limit injuries to officers and the people they detained – but that would still be an effective means of subduing an unruly suspect.
The version used by police are created to be wrapped around wrists and ankles during arrests, NBC News reported.
Anderson Police officers won’t be required to use the weapon, often made of two sticks or bars tethered together and popularized by martial arts film star Bruce Lee and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.
Day said he’s replacing his baton with the nunchucks, because they work so well and they’re a universal tool. “But it’s not like we can’t use these as an impact weapon…they work very good as an impact weapon”.
Day is now certified to train the department’s officers on the proper use of the nunchuks, who must pass a 16-hour training program before they are certified to use them.
He showed off a few ways they can be used and said if they are used with force, officers will focus on aiming at criminals’ hands, knees or wrists.
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“I see the value and the safety they bring to me”. Its force has 20 police officers, according to the Los Angeles Times. Unlike batons, they can also be used as a restraint.
