Cowabunga! Some cops in Northern California are now equipped with nunchucks, according to NBC News.
Also known as nunchakus — two bars tied by a metal chain — the weapon was chosen by the Anderson, California police because it represents a “more compassionate” weapon.
Chief Michael Johnson told NBC News: “The Anderson Police Department is implementing the police nunchaku as a tool to more effectively arrest, control, and subdue non-compliant suspects. The nunchaku can be deployed to more compassionately gain compliance from a suspect through pain application opposed to striking, as customary with the side-handled or straight baton.”
Johnson also believes that the nunchakus might change public perception on how police force is used saying, “In an era where the general public is extremely sensitive to police techniques and use of force issues, [nunchakus offer] another force option that may offset some of the more aggressive perceptions the public has about police intervention.”
Sgt. Casey Day agreed with Johnson: “It gives us the ability to control a suspect instead of striking them,”
The Anderson Police Department has about 20 officers representing the town’s population of roughly 10,00 people.
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