Redmond Police Trying `Martial Law' -- Nunchakus Beat Nightsticks, Users Say

REDMOND - Redmond cops are taking a crime-fighting tip from California police, Bruce Lee and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

They've started using nunchakus, an ancient Asian harvesting tool adapted for the martial arts in the 17th century.

Martial-arts experts like the late actor Bruce Lee and the fictional Turtles swing the tool at an opponent, but police will use it mostly as a restraining device. In a split second an officer can wrap the tool around a wrist or ankle, creating a nutcracker-like grip.

The Redmond Police Department says it's the first in the state to begin equipping its officers with nunchakus. They're already wielded by officers in some California jurisdictions.

The nunchaku (pronounced nun-chucko or sometimes nun-chuck) is an alternative to using Mace, a nightstick or brute force to restrain belligerent suspects without injuring them, explains Redmond Patrolman Thom Conroy.

"I see it being used in a lot of daily applications," Conroy said. "We could use it in bar fights or to control large gatherings. And there is no risk of injury to the subject."

The device being purchased here is a variation on the standard nunchaku and has been developed by a Colorado policeman, Kevin Orcutt. It's a simple tool - two 12-inch bars of polycarbonate plastic connected by a 4-inch-long nylon cord - and costs $70. For short, police call them OPN, for Orcutt Police Nunchaku.

In a session at the Redmond department last week, Conroy practiced with Reid Weaver, a Monroe patrolman, to get the technique

right.

Conroy darted toward Weaver, wrapped his wrist in the tool and barked, "Down on the ground! Down on the ground!" Twisting the black-handled device on Weaver's wrist, he forced the other man to the ground,

"Ooof!" Weaver grunted as he dropped. Conroy, crouched on the ground next to him, locked his hands together with a set of imaginary handcuffs.

Conroy, Redmond officers Jay Sheehan and Larry Conrad, and Weaver spent 32 hours last week training with Siskiyou County, Calif., sheriff's instructor Ken Bowlin. The training makes them level 1 instructors, qualified to in turn train their fellow officers in the technique.

About half the officers in Redmond's 33-member police force have expressed interest in the training, Conroy says. Monroe police are exploring the possible use of nunchakus.

Originally, nunchakus were wooden tools used by Asian farmers to harvest rice. When Japan invaded the island of Okinawa in the 1600s, weapons were outlawed and the Okinawans began to experiment with their harvest tools as a replacement.