Cops issue nunchucks?

[Gadfly]

http://www.cbs8.com/story/30364829/small-california-police-department-to-use-nunchucks

Someone somewhere in California, someone thought this was a good decision.

Can you imagine the the reaction to the first YouTube video of a cop going Bruce Lee on someone's ass?

[SamAdams]

Maybe if there ever is another ammo shortage they'll issue throwing stars

[Dagga Boy]

If you know what you are doing they work great for pain compliance....actually so effective the protestors hated them. They were not swung at people, they are used to lock up limbs and apply serious pain compliance without a lot of effort. Officers who were good with them (like the PR24) could do amazing work with them.

[DocGKR]

I was issued them in the early 1990's--they worked very well as Nyeti noted.

[runcible]

I could stand to hear about how they might be properly employed in a domestic LE context.

As more and more decry the use of TASER, OC, and batons using the ASP curriculum; should any be surprised that blunt force might make a comeback for generating compliance? Maybe chokes will be back in vogue for the many, too!

[Gadfly]

I get that they are used like a big lobster claw cracker. If the suspect is passive enough to apply it, I bet it works wonders. I just see it as big and awkward to carry, used in very specific context. Like I said, someone will use it Jackie Chan style and it will be a YouTube cop hate sensation...

[Dagga Boy]

Any police force tool can be improperly used. Up to and often including firearms. The biggest issues are training. Many places do not want to invest in training, so they are looking for things that are easy like a taser.........and when they don't work many officers stand around with a thumb in their arse because they really don't know what to do when the tool doesn't work like they expect. Training on use of force is critical. It needs to be relevant, recent and constantly trained. This is a priority of leadership.......unfortunately, leader is now a word and sorely lacking and replaced by managers who simply want easy.

If you hand an untrained officer a set of Orcutt's and little or no training, it will be a disaster. If you invest in proper initial training, regular updates and continuing training and competency testing, they are a good tool.

[Kennydale]

http://youtu.be/SncapPrTusA

Any Bruce Lees in the bunch????

[DocGKR]

I found our OPN's easier to carry and employee than a nightstick. They also worked very well on non-compliant suspects....

[45dotACP]

I get that they are used like a big lobster claw cracker. If the suspect is passive enough to apply it, I bet it works wonders. I just see it as big and awkward to carry, used in very specific context. Like I said, someone will use it Jackie Chan style and it will be a YouTube cop hate sensation...
Already got that when school cops get in a barehanded tussle...

[Coyotesfan97]

I think it was Scottsdale who used to authorize them locally. I've never used them other than practice foam ones.

[Totem Polar]

As an aside, I can personally vouch for nunchakus' ability to stop large, charging dogs in their tracks.

While I have no doubt that nunchaku can be used for some excellent leverage and pain compliance techniques, I'm seeing the idea of "non-lethal" as being sort of a hard sell to John Q Public.

[Trooper224]

These were popular for a brief time and will be popular for a brief time again. To employ them properly effective and continued training is a neccessity, something most departments don't have. Law enforcement administrators are looking for other less than lethal options, so they can be seen as proactive and thereby retain their jobs. These will quickly go the way of the Dodo just like they did before.

[TC215]

I'm (almost) surprised this is even news. Some departments have used these for years, especially on the west side of the country.

[Gadfly]

The first episode of cops. Nunchucks everywhere.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/31/25ffa9c8f70ebc52f15bb3b947d6142f.jpg

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/31/908d54d59c275025bd0888bdc1cd23f5.jpg


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[will_1400]

Nunchaku, as previously stated, are very good for restraining an uncooperative person if the user knows what they're doing and if needed for striking can do a lot of damage. The problem is they're a flexible weapon (as in not a one-piece deal) and require more skill and to use to control properly. Nearly every time I've seen someone hit themselves with nunchaku, it's because they weren't paying attention or had a panic moment where they disrupted the momentum of their swings which makes the end being swung basically do whatever it wants (something I'm guilty of as when we're talking nunchacku, it's a matter of when you hit yourself, not if).

If we're issuing kobudo weapons to police, the PR-24 is probably the best design from a usage standpoint as tonfa are much more defense oriented when one is trained in their use. Another option would be the sai, which I've seen marketed as the "rapid rotation baton".


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zHrE27lT-o

Promotional video, but it shows what is basically what I see as a kind of "PR-24 sai" due to how it's constructed. Problem is, as most have stated, to use these tools to full effect, one needs to train and practice regularly which few people are inclined to do.

[Dagga Boy]

All of this is why I am in favor of officers earning their force tools through proficiency and training investment. If I were king/chief, everybody would get a .38 special GP100 and a straight stick. From there, you need to show me that you are serious about YOUR life saving tools. People would whine about the crappy department with .38's and straight sticks.....but it would also be the same place you could carry any pistol, carbine and shotgun on the market and any force tools if you could show solid proficiency, solid initial training, and stayed current on training.

[Hambo]

All of this is why I am in favor of officers earning their force tools through proficiency and training investment. If I were king/chief, everybody would get a .38 special GP100 and a straight stick. From there, you need to show me that you are serious about YOUR life saving tools. People would whine about the crappy department with .38's and straight sticks.....but it would also be the same place you could carry any pistol, carbine and shotgun on the market and any force tools if you could show solid proficiency, solid initial training, and stayed current on training.

This might be the one thing that would foster an interest in training. Bad guys would be able to differentiate between the real badasses and lightweights based on equipment carried.

[Dagga Boy]

This might be the one thing that would foster an interest in training. Bad guys would be able to differentiate between the real badasses and lightweights based on equipment carried.

Crooks are quite good at assessing officers when they interact with them. They understand gear, how it is worn and proficiency......far better than many police administrators do.

[Doug]

All of this is why I am in favor of officers earning their force tools through proficiency and training investment. If I were king/chief, everybody would get a .38 special GP100 and a straight stick. From there, you need to show me that you are serious about YOUR life saving tools. People would whine about the crappy department with .38's and straight sticks.....but it would also be the same place you could carry any pistol, carbine and shotgun on the market and any force tools if you could show solid proficiency, solid initial training, and stayed current on training.

The new officer would not suffer from the tyranny of choice of what tool to use in a split second decision.



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[Chuck Whitlock]

If we're issuing kobudo weapons to police, the PR-24 is probably the best design from a usage standpoint as tonfa are much more defense oriented when one is trained in their use. Another option would be the sai, which I've seen marketed as the "rapid rotation baton".


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zHrE27lT-o

Promotional video, but it shows what is basically what I see as a kind of "PR-24 sai" due to how it's constructed. Problem is, as most have stated, to use these tools to full effect, one needs to train and practice regularly which few people are inclined to do.

That RRB is interesting. I've never seen the promo vid before. Is anyone here aware of any negative issues with their use?

[will_1400]

That RRB is interesting. I've never seen the promo vid before. Is anyone here aware of any negative issues with their use?

I'm not a police officer nor have I used the RRB, but I have trained with and used the sai (the kobudo weapon the RRB emulates) and can speak in general terms.

The sai is a pretty good weapon for both defense and attack. A skilled user can use the prongs to trap and hook an opponent, when held "closed" one can deliver one hell of a punch and it works a lot like a PR-24 held "closed" as a shielding device, and when open it acts like a straight baton but with the addition of prongs to trap an incoming weapon and act as hand guards. They also don't take as much time to learn to use effectively as tonfa and the prongs allow for pressure point control movements along with hooking a weapon or limb if used properly. My understanding is the sai were developed for police in Okinawa and Japan (though designs differ) back in the 1400-1500s and have always been weapons rather than farming tools. Wielded in pairs, a skilled person with sai is a force to be reckoned with. One bit of bullshit associated with them is that they're daggers (mostly comics and Hollywood bullshit with movies like Electra and such) but they're just an iron club with a rounded point and a pronged crossguard. They can pierce a target, but that's not what they're meant for.

With regard to the RRB, they give up a LOT of trapping potential by having the prongs so short.

For reference, here is a pair of sai nearly identical to the pair I own with the only real difference being mine are octagonal and these are round.

4225

And the RRB...

4226

My main beef with that video is how they talk about a 500+ year old weapon as being "cutting edge new technology", but the techniques they show are straight-up good kobudo with no real issues in mechanics or effectiveness (though on the attacking suspect it was semi-unrealistic as a full-on strike with the sai will take the starch out of almost anyone, especially if you catch the knee itself, but since the demonstrator hit the thigh, it's pretty close to a legit reaction).