BRITAIN. FOR USE WITH A .577 CALIBRE SNYDER ENFIELD CARBINE, POSSIBLE ASSOCIATION WITH NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE & A POST 1873 DATE. ISSUED TO MEMBERS OF THE NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE FROM 1873 TO 1878. USED WITH A .577 CALIBRE SNIDER ENFIELD CARBINE, ISSUED TO MEMBERS OF THE NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE FROM 1873 TO 1878. THE SINGLE-SHOT SNIDER ENFIELD WAS REPLACED IN 1878 WITH THE MODEL 1876 WINCHESTER CARBINE.
CHAIN IS WRAPPED AROUND WRIST, "T" PIECES FIT IN EACH OTHER & ARE TWISTED TO "PERSUADE" AN INDIVIDUAL TO FOLLOW A POLICE OFFICER. RETIRED POLICE CHIEF JIM CARPENTER SAYS THIS TYPE OF HANDCUFF WAS USED BY LETHBRIDGE CITY POLICE BEFORE MORE FAMILIAR MODERN HANDCUFF ADOPTED.
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UPDATE: COPY BELOW WAS RESEARCHED AND WRITTEN FOR SUBMISSION TO LETHBRIDGE LIVING MAGAZINE ON 15 APRIL 2013, RELATED TO THE MUSEUM’S WHAT’S IT FEATURE. REFERENCES TO THE ARTIFACT’S REPRESENTATIONAL USE BY THE LATE, RETIRED CHIEF OF LETHBRIDGE POLICE JIM CARPENTER CAN BE FOUND ON PAGES 83 AND 104 OF HIS BOOK THE BADGE AND THE BLOTTER. RESEARCH WAS CONDUCTED BY MUSEUM VOLUNTEER KIRSTEN CHRISTOPHERSON.
“COME-ALONGS” (ALSO KNOWN AS “CHAIN GRIPS” OR “CHAIN NIPPERS”) ARE AN EARLY FORM OF POLICE RESTRAINT USED FROM THE LATE 19TH TO MID 20TH CENTURY. THE LATE POLICE CHIEF JIM CARPENTER WROTE IN HIS BOOK THE BADGE AND THE BLOTTER THAT, WHEN HE BEGAN HIS CAREER WITH LETHBRIDGE CITY POLICE IN 1940, HE WAS ISSUED “COME-ALONG CHAINS” AMONGST OTHER THINGS.
COME-ALONGS HAVE TWO “T” SHAPED HANDLES, THE LARGER OF WHICH IS INSET, ALLOWING FOR ONE “T” HANDLE TO BE INSERTED INTO THE OTHER. TO USE A COME-ALONG, AN OFFICER WRAPPED THE CHAIN COMPONENT OF THE HANDCUFF AROUND ONE OF THE DETAINEE’S WRISTS, COMBINING AND TWISTING THE NOW INTERLOCKED HANDLE, THEREBY SHORTENING THE CHAIN. THIS SHORTENING ACTION CAUSED DISCOMFORT AND PAIN FOR THE DETAINEE, PERSUADING HIM OR HER TO “COME-ALONG” BY FORCE.
ONE CAN IMAGINE THE ISSUES OFFICERS FACED USING COME-ALONGS, AS IT ONLY CONTROLLED ONE OF THE DETAINEE’S TWO HANDS. THE RESTRAINT “TOOL” WAS EVENTUALLY DISCARDED BY POLICE AS THE TRADITIONAL HANDCUFF ROSE IN PROMINENCE. THIS CHANGE PROVIDED INCREASED SAFETY AND PEACE OF MIND FOR BOTH OFFICERS AND THEIR DETAINEES.