Cops in a northern California town are to be equipped with nunchucks — the weapon mastered by Bruce Lee — in order to "more compassionately gain compliance" from suspects.
Police officers in Anderson will use them to deal with people who are uncooperative during arrests.
Nunchucks — which are also known as nunchakus — have been used by other police forces in the past. They usually comprise two bars tied by a metal chain.
"The Anderson Police Department is implementing the police nunchaku as a tool to more effectively arrest, control, and subdue non-compliant suspects," Chief Michael Johnson told NBC News. "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."
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Anderson is home to about 10,000 people and is located about 150 miles north of Sacramento. Its force has 20 police officers, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"In an era where the general public is extremely sensitive to police techniques and use of force issues, [nunchucks offer] another force option that may offset some of the more aggressive perceptions the public has about police intervention," Johnson added.
In martial arts movies, nunchucks are brandished in order to intimidate or wound opponents, but those manufactured for law enforcement officers are designed to be wrapped around wrists and ankles in order to facilitate arrests.