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HerbM wrote:

anygunanywhere wrote:

Kythas wrote:"You're not under arrest at this time. I'm simply handcuffing you for your safety and mine."

I have never understood this statement. Perhaps a thread where it can be adequately discussed would be appropriate. I do not see how restraining me would make me more safe. Yes, it might be more safe for the officer, but not me.

Anygunanywhere

You are of course correct, so the only way it makes sense is if he means: I am handcuffing you so that I don't get nervous and shoot you.

Basically, you're correct. However, we made a distinction between detaining and arresting. The handcuffs were to ensure the safety of the officers on scene primarily, and if the officers are less nervous, then it's safer for everyone involved. However, I've seen situations where people weren't handcuffed and - with police standing right there - would start swinging at each other. So it was also to protect the parties from each other in high tempered situations or situations which had the potential to escalate. We didn't always handcuff everyone at the scene - in fact, we rarely did - but wouldn't hesitate to do so if we felt the situation warranted it.

It was also to ensure nobody involved tried to run. I was a cop in New Orleans and had to deal with situations in the projects many times. There were often times suspects would run into projects and we'd never find them. Residents of the projects would actually light firecrackers and throw them off balconies at us, which would cause us to take cover as we wouldn't know if we were being shot at or not. This was to give cover for the suspect we were chasing so he could more easily escape.

Just for the record, no, I'm not a Katrina refugee. Texas is my home state and I came back here in '96.

There were plenty of times when I was a cop when I and other officers present would handcuff everyone at the scene. I would tell them as I was doing it "You're not under arrest at this time. I'm simply handcuffing you for your safety and mine."

This would allow us to control the scene fairly quickly. We could then question the people present and determine what was going on.

As a former LEO, if I pulled up to a scene and saw someone pointing a firearm at another person, I don't know who is the BG and who is the GG. I would draw on the armed person and order them to drop the weapon. Again, everyone at the scene would be in cuffs until I knew what was going on.

First rule in law enforcement - safety first. The officer will do what he needs to do to control the scene and ensure the safety of everyone present.