As part of the effort to combat the widespread anti-police backlash, cops in one northern California town are introducing nunchakus in order to soften their image. The weapon widely associated with Bruce Lee—and Michelangelo from “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”—is intended to be a more versatile alternative to the baton, a tool that can be used for restraining offenders without striking them. As reported by NBC, the department wants to use them to “more compassionately gain compliance” from resistant suspects.
As far as giving police more options, this seems like a decent enough idea. But our concern is that officers’ lives are endangered when they feel obligated to exercise too much restraint. The Alabama detective who nearly lost his life back in August when he declined to shoot an attacker is a perfect example.
