A police department in California is taking an interesting step to “offset some of the more aggressive perceptions the public has about police intervention.” It’s arming its officers with nunchucks. Anderson Police Chief Michael Johnson explained to NBC News that unlike “striking, as customary with the side-handled or straight baton,” their polycarbonate nunchucks will, ideally, allow officers to “more compassionately gain compliance from a suspect through pain application.” He said, “The Anderson Police Department is implementing the police nunchaku as a tool to more effectively arrest, control and subdue non-compliant suspects … In an era where the general public is extremely sensitive to police techniques and use of force issues, [nunchakus offer] another force option that may offset some of the more aggressive perceptions the public has about police intervention.” Unlike the weapons wielded by the TMNT’s Michelangelo, these nunchucks aren’t designed to be swung around in close quarters ninja combat. Instead, they’re made to wrap up a suspect’s hands and wrists.
