Getting out of a police car while handcuffed

Well, there's generally a person in a spiffy blue uniform to help you in and out of a police car . . . and to make sure you don't bump your head.

But the easiest way to really experience this for yourself is to get a friend to help you, hold your hands behind your back, and have the friend put you in the back of a full-size sedan.

In the videos I've seen of someone being put into a police car, the officer usually holds the suspect's arm (to both help the person into the car as well as to control the situation), and often either warns them to watch their head, or else actually pushes the suspects head down so it doesn't hit the top of the door jamb. I'm sure you can find videos of this on TV news site, or YouTube; or watch old episodes of Cops.

When I was 16 I once had the experience of being put into a police car, but at the time I wasn't thinking about noting the details. I do know you can see your face in the hood of a white Ford LTD while some large person is patting your private areas. ;-)

A lot would depend on the crime the person is accused of committing, their physical condition (for example, if they're drunk), and whether the person is fighting back. It could go easy . . . or not so easy. If someone has just shot a cop, it's not going to be done with the white glove treatment. If needed, three or four cops will "help" the suspect into the car.

Well, I've only done this for a practical apps, and I've put a lot of cuffed people in cars but it's not that hard really. Clearance can be an issue if you're really tall...and the LEO does "assist" you to some degree, usually to ensure you don't hit your head, etc.

If you can get your hands on a set of cuffs, grab a friend and practice (somewhere private)!

You kind of have to squat and lead with your rear since you don't have your hands for balance. You still get in much the same way. Sit, one leg in, slide over, other leg in...but if the cuffs are tight, they'll dig into your wrists!

Hope that helps... (You could always ask a police officer for a demonstration, especially if they're easy on the eyes! )

> I am thinking that it is difficult to get in and out of a car while handcuffed.

You get in and out like a lady wearing a short skirt. You sit first, then tuck your legs together in afterwards.

> and to make sure you don't bump your head

Actually, to make sure the police isn't going to be accused of brutality. Otherwise it would be easy for a convict to break a nose on the doorframe and accuse the police afterwards.

-cb

Ninety percent of the ones I arrested were young and agile. They had no trouble getting our of the car while cuffed behind their backs. The bigger, heavier ones, sometimes needed a tug to get them onto their feet.

Getting them into the car is a lot easier, sometimes we "accidentally" hit the door frame with their face, but things like that happen, especially after you had to wrestle then to the ground to get the cuffs on them.

Another situation that sometimes comes up, is when the arrested person spits at you through the wire screen. Our usual response is to ask them if they'd ever had a Hollywood screen test. That's the heads-up to your partner that you're about to slam on the brakes.
Your spitting arrestee flies forward face first into the screen. They emerge from the police car with a waffle pattern on their face. but the marks fade after a few minutes. Usually, they learn it's not nice to spit at police officers.

The one time I have sat in the back of a police car was because we'd broken down on the side of the road and it was cold out, so the officer let me sit in the car while we waited for the tow truck.

However, the door locks and there is no way to open it from the inside (that I found), so I was stuck there until the officer returned to the car to let me out. I don't know if that's true of every police car, but I suspect it is, so that adds a complication to escaping. There's also a cage/grille between the back and front seats, and I suspect there's also something blocking off the trunk so a guy with a knife can't hack his way through the back seat and then escape via the trunk.

Aerial

Aerial: That's true of all police cars in countries I'm familiar with.

The backs of police cars don't have operational door handles (or at the very least the cops can disable them).

You CANNOT unlock the rear doors of a police car from the inside. Getting out would involve breaking a window (a plexi-glass shield normally separates the passenger and driver's compartments).

It is possible for a somewhat flexible person to bring their hands to the front by sliding the cuffs under their legs, if they had something to break the window with they could then escape fairly easily. BUT, it is not easy to break auto glass, look for the Mythbusters episode where Adam tests how to escape from a submerged car, without hardened steel or something similar (I don't think the handcuffs would work) it's nearly impossible.

It is fairly easy for a competent person to pick the lock on handcuffs. There are YouTube videos that tell you how.

RJK said:

Ninety percent of the ones I arrested were young and agile. They had no trouble getting our of the car while cuffed behind their backs. The bigger, heavier ones, sometimes needed a tug to get them onto their feet.

Getting them into the car is a lot easier, sometimes we "accidentally" hit the door frame with their face, but things like that happen, especially after you had to wrestle then to the ground to get the cuffs on them.

Another situation that sometimes comes up, is when the arrested person spits at you through the wire screen. Our usual response is to ask them if they'd ever had a Hollywood screen test. That's the heads-up to your partner that you're about to slam on the brakes.
Your spitting arrestee flies forward face first into the screen. They emerge from the police car with a waffle pattern on their face. but the marks fade after a few minutes. Usually, they learn it's not nice to spit at police officers.

Click to expand...

Accidents happen...

I am so sweet and polite that my cops cuffed me in the front, thankyouverymuch And the frisking on the side of the road was very quick!

Seriously, depending on what you need out of your story, it can be pretty easy for the suspect. I was also allowed to pee in the cops' bathroom instead of on in the jail-jail. The cuffs with pantyhose were the hardest part of the whole ordeal