The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) has officially updated its handcuffing policy to require officers to consider a person’s age, ethnicity, and the seriousness of the alleged incident before using handcuffs to restrain the individual.
It also informs police officers that they can no longer view handcuffing someone who is under arrest, detained, or apprehended as a “routine action.”
The updated policy, detailed in an April 7 news release, states that before applying handcuffs, the officer must have “lawful authority that is objectively reasonable, is proportionate to the potential risk of harm the officer faces, and is necessary to fulfil a legitimate policing objective.”…