Policy Text
Kern County Sheriff’s Office
Policies and Procedures
TITLE:
USE OF FORCE-HANDCUFFS
NO: F-150
APPROVED:
Donny Youngblood, Sheriff-Coroner
EFFECTIVE:
August 20, 2013
REVIEWED:
07/10/2020
REVISED:
UPDATED:
10/13/2017
F-150
POLICY
This procedure provides guidelines for handling situations involving handcuffing during
detentions and arrests. This policy is also applicable to Flexcuffs, which will be considered
synonymous with handcuffs for purposes of this policy.
Although recommended for most arrest situations, handcuffing is a discretionary procedure and
not an absolute rule of the Sheriff's Office. When deciding whether to handcuff an arrestee,
deputies should carefully balance officer safety concerns with factors including, but not limited
to the following:
The circumstances leading to the arrest
The attitude and behavior of the arrested person
The age, sex and apparent health of the person
Whether the person has a hearing or speaking disability. In such c