The other day I was having a conversation with a law enforcement buddy of mine — the subject was the perpetual evolution of handcuff keys carried by bad guys.
Every few weeks a new example will crop up on the Internet, and we do our best to share them here on the Police1 site as much as possible (without becoming the “all-handcuff-keys-all-the-time” website).
For example, the image at right was posted to the Police1 Facebook page.
The RE Factor Tactical Operator Band looks like an excellent tool for the special forces operator. It has a can opener that “can be removed from the bracelet without causing damage to the rest of the band for use in a survival situation.”
It has a flint for starting fires, which can even be used as a weight on a fishing line so you can put a fish atop your recently-started campfire.
It also has a handcuff key. Marketed to SO-types — and, one might assume, outdoorsmen and even law enforcement — this the kind of tool we want to have in the hands of the good guys.
When you come across a suspect wearing one, however, you need to know that the device presents a certain danger to you.
Today we’ve got an excellent column from John Demand on an Israeli’s advice (that they look for the bomber, not the bomb) that dovetails nicely with today’s alert about the latest concealed handcuff key.
We can show you pictures day in and day out (being the “all-handcuff-keys-all-the-time” website) but it’s important to focus your attention on the behaviors as much as the bomb, so to speak.
You’ve asked your suspect to open his (or her) mouth and upon a glance, seen nothing there. Are you watching him (or her) after that to see if they make a telltale move with the tongue to retrieve that key from “between their cheek and gum” as that old chewing tobacco commercial used to say?
Finding nothing upon a cursory glance doesn’t mean a whole lot if you then let your guard down and fail to pay close attention to the subject’s subsequent behavior.
As Demand says, if you have consciously observed and recorded to memory the behaviors and indicators of non-violators, you will be more prone to recognize the aberrant, abnormal, and potentially-dangerous behaviors of the bad guy. In the case of those RE Factor Tactical Operator Bands, I would bet a waist-high stack of green money that should you encounter an active-duty or retired military person — who is a true American hero and a law-abiding citizen — wearing one, you’ll get a good baseline behavior against which you can measure an interaction with the opposite, right?
I encourage you to check out today’s column from John Demand before you get back out on the streets.
Oh, one last thing: When you do discover something secreted in the suspect’s mouth, please resist any sudden urge to go get it? I’d like you to keep all your fingers attached and unharmed.
Stay safe out there my friends.
