California Cops Will Soon Be Armed With Nunchucks
What’s next, throwing stars?
Police in one rural Northern California town will soon be armed with nunchucks in a bid to battle crime like martial arts master Bruce Lee.
The 20-officer force in Anderson, Calif., located a few hours north of Sacramento, will supposedly use the chop-socky weapon — also known as nunchaku — to “compassionately gain compliance” from suspects resisting arrest, by wrapping its nylon cord around wrists and ankles.
“The Anderson Police Department is implementing the police nunchaku as a tool to more effectively arrest, control, and subdue non-compliant suspects,” Chief Michael Johnson told NBC News. “The nunchaku can be deployed to more compassionately gain compliance from a suspect through pain application opposed to striking, as customary with the side-handled or straight baton.”
“In an era where the general public is extremely sensitive to police techniques and use of force issues, [nunchucks offer] another force option that may offset some of the more aggressive perceptions the public has about police intervention,” Johnson added.
Rather than intimidating and beating an opponent senseless like Lee did in his movies, police ‘chucks are primarily meant to restrain. While their usage may seem bizarre, law enforcement agencies have been employing nunchucks for decades.
The Orcutt Police Nunhchaku pictured here was developed in 1985 by retired Colorado police Sgt. Kevin Orcutt, who holds a first-degree black belt in Jukado.
Now that you’re up to speed on the latest nunchucks news, feel free watch Lee demonstrate how to expertly wield the weapon in 1973’s Enter The Dragon.
Photos by Everett Collection
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