Handcuffs for tour riots
■(AZ. Press A'button) AUCKLAND, July 24. It had to happen — plastic, throw-away handcuffs. They are cheap, easily mass-produced, and as tough as the traditional steel handcuffs carried by the New Zealand police. The police thought so highly of them that they ordered 20,000 when demonstrations threatened the subsequently cancelled Springbok Rugby tour of 197,3. The plastic handcuffs are simply a 15in strip of toughened, self-locking nylon. Snap the two ends together and a special cut-
ting instrument has to be used to take them oft. The idea, according to the police, was to use these if there were a riot where demonstrators outnumbered policemen and mass arrests of truculent prisoners looked likely. They were not supposed to replace the steel handcuffs. The plastic throw-aways are today languishing in police stores. Strangely, the new police handcuff was made for quite a different purpose. The manufacturer confirmed that the handcuffs were designed as a cable tie — used in industry to bunch together electrical cables.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33904, 25 July 1975, Page 3
Word Count
166Handcuffs for tour riots Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33904, 25 July 1975, Page 3
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