The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1892-11-18
THE BLUECO ATS GRIPS.
HOW PRISONERS ARE TAKEN
TO THE STATION HOUSE.
The "Twist,' ssSleevs Hold, Z sCollar, =
ssShoulder.' .Drunl'' aud ssWheel-
barrow''-The Last Is Sell
dom Found Necessary.

Policemen have been. known to use
the twist" on prisoners of d very
common and. SO far as the general
puolic is concerned. inoffensive ma
ture. simply out Of personal Ispite.
IN such cases the prisoner is very.
liable to have lame arm for several
weeks.
The twist would hold Champion
Corbett or break his arm. even if the
policeman were ever so much smaller
and lighter. saysthe New York Jour-
nal. In twisting . prisoner the
policeman grasps the left wrist of his
man with his right hand and turns it
to the left until the arm is twisted
around up the back. the hand being
about tho center of the back.
The position is not painful unless
the officer twists too hard. which,
however. is generally the case rs the
twist" Is seldom. it ever given" to
a prisoner unless it doesn't make
much. if any difference whether he is
in pain or not
The sleeve hold" is another grip
which is considered secure. The
sleeve hold" is not as painful as the
twist" and in times OF emergency it
is hard to get'a sleeve hold which
consists of the officer grasping the
coat sleeve at the wrist and twisting
it .around several times so that it is
tight. In this way the sleeve serves
in the place OF .nippers.
The sleeve hold" is used mostly
in the arrest of boys or young men
who are not desperate
When a policeman has a prisoner
say a drunk who has been fighting
and wants to argue the point he
usually escorts him TO the station by
the collar" The collar" as the
grip in question Is known, is some
times very uncomfortable. for the
prisoner and puts him IN mind of
strangulation. as the officer has fOu-
fingers OF one of his hands down the
back of the fellows neck. aud with
the thumb outside twists the collar as
tight as he sees fit. Then he pushes
the prisoner forward. and holding
him at arms length sets the paue to
the station.
The old shoulder grip is not used
4 very much now. as the collar is
considered much safer and more per-
suasive. Now and then policeman
will use the shoulder" in taking q
prisoner to the station house. but it
is generally when the prisoner is very
much frightened and willing to walk
right along for fear of being dubbed.
while a. the same time not averse to
making a run for freedom if q good
chance presented itself.
The drunk is grip no police
man likes though they are very often
compelled to use it 1t consists OF
B the officer placing his arm under the
prisners arm in such manner that
the latter can lean the better part OIL
/ his weight on the former as thew
stroll along together toward the sta
ton house.
The drunk is MOST often used
when the prisoner is too far gone to
be able to walk alone and yet moi
quite full enough to need push cart
for his transportation.
The .wheelbarrow" is q grin not
very often used but there are times
when the patrolmen find it the only
one which will help them get pris-
oner to place Of safety until push
cart or patrol wagon can be sum-
moned. When patrolman uses the
wheel barrow. he simply turns the
prisoner over on his or her back.
picks up the feet one in each hand
and starts out OF course it would MT
do to take prisoner any great dis
tance in this fashion. but it's the
easiest way to get one out of the way
3 OF passing vehicles.
All policemen are supposed to
carry nippers and with very few ex- !
ceptions they do though they don't
use them unless they really have to. |
Rather than fish out their .nippers'' |
ii the prisoner is liable to be trou ble-
some they will take the leather string
on their club and fasten it about the |
prisoners wrist In doing this it |
naturally makes the club useless,
though one prisoner who was being |
taken to the station is this manner
arrived with broken nose. He had
tried to be funny" with the police.
man and the club Jew up infiicting
the damage stated.
Unless "a prisoner is a. well-known |
crook aitighter. drunk murderer
some one who has committed an i'm
proper crime ora personal enemy to
the officer who has him in charge. he
is allowed to walk along without Elk.
.periencing any of the grips. providing
he behaves himself
An Ancient Globe.