The Nutcracker

City police forces have tried for years to develop a cheap, effective, nonlethal weapon. A variety of expensive hardware has been tested, but the gun and the nightstick are still the basic tools of restraint. Now police in Detroit think that they have the answer. They have developed a new $10 weapon known as the "nutcracker," which consists of two foot-long plastic sticks joined at one end by four short nylon cords.

Pointed at the suspect like a dowser's divining rod, the weapon works on two simple principles: speed and pressure. Before the offender can escape, or if he resists arrest, the sticks are clamped around his arm, wrist or hand. The cords act as a hinge. If he resists, the arresting officer merely squeezes the sticks, inducing severe, immobilizing pain. Either way, no permanent injury is usually inflicted because the pain will subdue the offender before any physical damage occurs.

The nutcracker is equally effective in mob control and dispersal. Holding on to only one stick, the patrolman swings the other like a flail. Any attempt to grab the swirling stick results in a broken limb. A blow on the head can fracture a skull. Says a Detroit police official: "With six men carrying the sticks, we can penetrate 50 men and bust up their formation and come back out."

The nutcracker was developed by z suburban Detroit karate expert, Russell Hanke. He adapted the weapon from a similar one used by the Okinawans during World War II. In its original form, the device was used by Okinawan farmers for centuries as a tool to flail rice. Said Hanke: "It was the only weapon I couldn't figure out a way to fight." On the strength of Detroit's success with the instrument, Michigan state police and 45 other municipal and county police organizations are now testing the nutcracker, which, some have found, can also crack nuts.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.