Just watching a US crime show and I finally decided to ask in this sub, if the constant cuffing of suspects in US crime shows is really how police in the US treats them? In many cases the detectives arrest several people before they find the right on, each time using handcuffs, even if the suspects are unarmed, working in an office and show no signs of aggression or of wanting to resist arrest.Here in Germany, that would be unthinkable. Most arrests are made without cuffing the suspects, in fact, cuffing is only allowed if the suspects are aggressive and or dangerous, resisting arrest or to safeguard officers (for example if they are transported in a car without a separation between the front and back seats).
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If a person is suspected of committing a crime and there is grounds for their arrest, yes, generally speaking they will be handcuffed.
I think for many departments, it’s policy that a suspect is handcuffed while in the back of a police car.
Following a lot of bodycam channels, I noticed that police officers are lenient with cooperative suspects and let them be handcuffed in the front sometimes.
Generally, people being arrested are handcuffed. At what point they are handcuffed depends on the circumstances. Someone being combative or who may be a flight risk will be handcuffed a lot sooner than someone who is cooperating, nonviolent, and not likely to run. However, every agency that I have worked with/against has a policy that anyone who is detained and being transported in a patrol car must be handcuffed.
So if police are arresting someone who is calm and cooperative for something minor? They’ll walk them to the patrol car, cuff them, and transport them. Arresting someone who is actively resisting? That person will be handcuffed as soon as possible and then taken to the car for transport.
TV is not real but putting handcuffs on someone is to protect the safety of the officers. How does a German police officer know whether or not an arrested person *will become* aggressive or dangerous?
Anybody being transported in the back of a police car will almost certainly be handcuffed. I suspect that people in Germany are much more likely to follow police orders and much less likely to be armed.
Handcuffing a suspect is mostly for the officer’s safety. Sure, an officer could probably just throw you in back of a cop car, but Americans are a lot more likely to resist arrest, be unruly, and can also have a gun. Therefore, police need to take necessary steps to protect themselves. Usually, when you’re being handcuffed, it means one of two things:
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1. You are being arrested. That means that you’re suspected of committing a crime, and they have enough probable cause to take you to jail
This means that they have witnessed you committing the crime or they have reliable evidence that you have committed a crime.
2. You are being detained. That means that the police think you committed a crime and are confirming by gathering evidence. This is also for their safety. You’re much less likely to attack an officer whose back is turned while they’re looking for evidence if you’re already in handcuffs.
The vast majority of the time, police will not put you in handcuffs or detain you right away. They have to suspect that you committed a crime first. An officer might have you sit down or put your hands on your head while he’s figuring out what’s going on, but again, that’s for the officer’s safety.
Depending on the crime and how much of a flight risk the suspect is, they may be allowed to surrender themselves for arrest at a police station. The three recent arrests of former president Trump are high profile examples of someone surrendering themselves for arrest.
**Unthinkable** as [this child](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTr-L_TDC8A ) is brutally handcuffed.
If you think *the frequent use of handcuffs* by American LEO’s is bad or “unthinkable” … you’ve missed out on a lot of news.
Most departments have policies in place to handcuff people when they arrest them. To protect the officers and the person being arrested
You have to be a really privileged person like a celebrity to not be handcuffed. Even if you’re compliant, they will put handcuffs on you. I think humiliation is a big part of the reason why. And it appears “fair” when a shoplifter and a wire fraudster both have to be in handcuffs when under arrest. It makes it all the worse when someone is so high profile that they’re excepted from wearing handcuffs during their arrest though. One thing that’s not accurate is the consistent reciting of what Americans call “Miranda Rights.” Often suspected perpetrators are read their miranda rights before they’re questioned, not at the point when they were put under arrest. Police in TV and movies are always shouting “YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT” when they’re still actively trying to get the suspect under control which leads people to believe it’s the only way someone can legally be arrested. However, Miranda Rights concern interrogations, not arrests. As long as they are read their rights at some point before they’re asked questions, the questions are fair game.
You expect us to believe that in Germany, when people are arrested, they just say “oh you got me, I will peacefully comply with you Officer and not resist at all?” I think it’s bad tactics for your officers to not restrain arrestees.
*”Here in Germany, that would be unthinkable.”*
*”cuffing is only allowed if the suspects are aggressive and or dangerous,”*
OP’s premise [does not check out](https://www.dw.com/en/german-police-face-probe-over-11-year-old-in-handcuffs/a-56553460). ¯\_( ͡❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛)_/¯
*“Arrest several people before they find the right one”*
This probably refers to investigative detention. Police can detain people if they have “reasonable suspicion crime is afoot” which is a very low threshold. Depending on the circumstances, they may handcuff everyone, even if it’s unlikely they’ll arrest more than one person. Once they figure out what’s going on, they’ll release those that they don’t have “probable cause” to arrest, which is a higher threshold than reasonable suspicion.
Here is an example:
A gunshot is heard near a warehouse at 2 am. The police arrive and see 5 people running away in different directions. They’ll detain all 5. They’ll likely handcuff them all since these are dangerous circumstances – it’s nighttime, a firearm was used, it’s in a remote area, etc. They are all detained at the scene in cuffs.
They interview all 5 people. One is a homeless guy that head the shots and ran. 2 are warehouse custodians who say guy 5 did it. Guy 4 is the unarmed night watchman. He says he saw guy 5 break in and called the cops just as the gun shot went off. Guy 5 says nothing, but has a history of breaking and entering. Police release guys 1-4 as they no longer have reasonable suspicion they were involved in committing criminal activity & get their statements. Police then *arrest* guy 5 as they have *probable cause* to believe he committed the crime.
>In many cases the detectives arrest several people before they find the right on, each time using handcuffs, even if the suspects are unarmed, working in an office and show no signs of aggression or of wanting to resist arrest.
If someone is being arrested, there’s a greater than 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999.9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999% chance they’re getting cuffed.
>In many cases the detectives arrest several people before they find the right on, each time using handcuffs, even if the suspects are unarmed, working in an office and show no signs of aggression or of wanting to resist arrest.
OP, do you mean: “Detain” and not “arrest”? They’re two entirely different words and their meanings are vastly different. Cops (usually) aren’t going to arrest someone until they’re comfortable that the arrest isn’t going to turn into: “Oh, my bad. I actually meant to grab your cubicle neighbor, not you.”
Detaining is a temporary action police take during criminal investigations. You’re not under arrest, but ***you are*** under the custody of the police officer and he can control your movements for the duration of the detainment. Not every detainment ends in handcuffs. Usually detainees will only be handcuffed if they’ve been uncooperative with the officer or there are multiple of them and there’s not enough officers on scene to control all of them. But one detainee with one cop probably isn’t going to end in the detainee being cuffed.
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Yes. In fact, just the other day when walking out of a walmart, a cop was waiting at the door for a small framed woman in shorts and a tank top in her mid 30s who was leaving the store in front of my wife and me.
He steps in front of her, she stops, he says “you’re under arrest, let me see your hands.” She is clearly shocked and says “wait, what? I’m sorry, just a second, can we talk for a second?” He repeats, “put your hands out so I can restrain you.” She takes a step back and says “hold on, can you wait just a moment please? what’s this…” and then he tackled her.
That’s pretty much the normal expectation where I live with the cops. They immediately go for intimidation and aggression in all situations except for traffic stops with middle aged white people in nice cars.
It’s common to be cuffed while being detained and if you’re actually being arrested you will be handcuffed for sure.
I was arrested twice when I was a kid for very minor offenses and was cuffed both times.
Some suspects get cuffed, then a knee to the neck until they die.
BLM!
German police generally don’t have to worry about someone pulling a gun out of their pocket and unloading.
Unfortunately, that’s a real possibility they have to consider in this country.
You probably want to be asking US cops or lawyers. The average American has never seen an actual arrest first hand and is not especially well versed in police procedures.
Just look up “Cop arresting crazy woman” and you’ll find what you’re looking for
Perp walks were an issue about a decade ago when the NYPD did a perp walk on Dominique Strauss-Kahn back in 2011. The French were shocked by the public treatment of the man while certain Americans defended it.
Just watch youtube videos of police bodycams.
If someone is arrested then yes in the US that is standard for people arrested on the street. If someone is issued a time to appear in court to face a charge then often no (I don’t think Donald Trump, to use a high profile example, was handcuffed probably).
However, it’s possible to get handcuffed then released an example is my friend who went to the scene of a friend’s accident to check on his friend. He didn’t hear the officer telling him to move out of the way so he was arrested and handcuffed at the scene. After police had a chance to talk to my friend and find out why he was at the accident scene they uncuffed and released him.
It’s a safety issue so most suspects or even people who are just being detained are regularly handcuffed. These safety measures like this are written in blood. People can and do suddenly attack officers or become hostile without much notice despite appearing completely jovial and cooperative the second before they attack.
Yes! And sorry you got so many aggressive replies…we’re not all assholes
I’ve only been arrested twice (long stories, both) but in my cases the officers just politely said “We need to put handcuffs on you before you get in the car. Regulations.”
As a little point of self victory, I shook all the officers hands as I left the station.
I get where they were coming from though. They’d never meet me, and I could’ve been some loony-toon for all they knew.
When arrested the police do not “read you your rights.” This generally happens before interrogation. They may ask questions and can use that against you. It’s not an easy out like many shows had us believe.
I’ve been cuffed three times in my life. Never once actually convicted of a crime.
I’ve never been arrested, but I have been handcuffed a few times “for everybody’s safety” while they looked to see if they had a reason to arrest me.
On Reddit, depending on the context of the post, Germans are the most obnoxious “we are different than Americans,” while not realizing that similar shit happens in their country.
They don’t have to arrest you to cuff you, they can do it if they perceive a threat and/or to just detain you. Really, they can just do it for fun and pretend they have a reason. When they arrest you, they gotta do the whole Miranda Rights thing.
In my personal experience, I’ve been detained/cuffed 4 times and arrested/cuffed once. The 4 detainments were all in my hometown, where 9 outta 10 cops were the stereotypical power-drunk dbags that would do anything/everything in their power to escalate a situation so they could have a reason to arrest you.
The most notable detainment for me was when I was 16, walking around *in my own front yard* at night. A cop pulled up, jumped out of the car, grabbed me, cuffed me, and threw me against his car. Used the ol’ “you fit the description” BS. We later found out that, not only was the description was *completely different from me*, but they had already caught the suspect 20 before this incident.
The one time I was arrested, I lucked out because it was in a very polite county with very polite police. The one who cuffed me even linked two sets of cuffs so my shoulders wouldn’t get strained. Aside from the terror instilled by their bear-sized demon dog K9 unit, the whole experience was, well, kinda nice, lol.
People are cuffed when they are arrested, or in the immediate vicinity of someone being arrested (i.e. the same house or vehicle). Suspects brought in for an interview are not typically cuffed.