Editing Handcuffs (section)

==Hand positioning==
In the past, police officers typically handcuffed an arrested person with their hands in front, but since approximately the mid-1960s behind-the-back handcuffing has been the standard. The vast majority of police academies in the [[United States]] today also teach their recruits to apply handcuffs so that the palms of the suspect's hands face outward after the handcuffs are applied.{{Citation needed|date=March 2015}} The [[Jacksonville, Florida]] Police Department, the [[Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department]] and others are notable exceptions, as they favor palms-together handcuffing.{{Citation needed|date=March 2015}} This helps prevent radial neuropathy or [[handcuff neuropathy]] during extended periods of restraint. Suspects are handcuffed with the keyholes facing up (away from the hands) to make it difficult to open them even with a key or improvised [[lockpicking|lock-pick]].

Because a person's hands are used in breaking falls, being handcuffed introduces a significant risk of injury if the prisoner trips or stumbles, in addition to injuries sustained from overly tight handcuffs causing handcuff neuropathy. Police officers having custody of the person need to be ready to catch a stumbling prisoner.

As soon as restraints go on, the officer has full liability.  The risk of the prisoner losing balance is higher if the hands are handcuffed behind the back than if they are handcuffed in front; however, the risk of using fisted hands together as a weapon increases with hands in front.

{{gallery
|mode=packed
|height=200
|File:Handcuffed Hands - to the front.png|Handcuffed to the front
|File:Handcuffed Hands - in the front stack position.jpg|Handcuffed in the front stack position
|File:Handcuffed Hands - to the back.png|Handcuffed in the back stack position
|File:Handcuffed Hands - in the stack position.png|Handcuffed in the stack position
|File:Handcuffed Hands - back.jpg|Handcuffed to the back
}}