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April 08, 2023 - 12:00 PM
Police officers in Vancouver have to start showing more discretion before restraining anyone with handcuffs.
A person’s age, ethnicity, and the seriousness of an alleged incident must first be taken into consideration, according to the Vancouver Police Department’s recently-updated handcuffing policy.
“Furthermore, before applying handcuffs, a police 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,” the department said in a news release. “A focal point of the policy is that Vancouver Police officers must be able to articulate the specific circumstance necessitating the use of handcuffs to restrain a person.”
Officers are responsible for the amount of force they use and they "cannot rely" on legal protection even if they were under a supervisor's orders, the release says.
“A police officer cannot view handcuffing someone who is under arrest, detained, or apprehended as a routine action.”
Officers also have the discretion to choose not to use handcuffs even when they have the lawful authority to do so, according to the updated policy which can be found here.
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