Why do they do that? (Continued)

If police have to arrest someone, the person is handcuffed, with their hands behind their back.
In my over 30 year career, without exception, people would: Say," You don't have to do that".
Complain that the handcuffs were on too tight.

First, LIABILITY drives a lot of things police do. Second, the officer rarely knows the person that he/she is arresting.

An example of why everyone is handcuffed is the case of a Nice Guy CHP Officer in Riverside. The Officer had stopped an older man. The man had problems in his life, and had took to drinking to ease them. But, he was driving. The man gave the Officer his sob story, and the Officer thinks,"this is a good guy. I do not want to demean him, so, since he is co-operating, I'll not handcuff him". On the way to jail, the man opened the door and got out at 70 miles an hour. Of course, the man's survivors sued for wrongful death.

Another Officer had a "Cage Car", meaning there was a screen between the front and back seats. Since he had the car, he was called to an arrest to transport a Mexican (Illegal) to jail. The arresting officer had failed to search the arrestee. Since the arrestee would be in a "mini-jail" in the back seat, no one hancuffed him. On the way to jail, the arrestee pulled a .25 calibre automatic from its hiding place in his crotch and shot the officer in the back of the head. The arrestee had two wives, one in Tijuana, and one in Los Angeles, and didn't want that fact disclosed.

A sergeant was called to a woman's jail, as the officers had arrested a female DUI driver, who had fought them. It was not apparent until they got to the jail, and then it was noted that the female's wrist was swollen. The jail nurse was called and announced that the arrestee had a broken wrist. The jail staff declared that the officers had to take the arrestee to a county hospital.

Since there was an injury, a Sergeant was summoned to in order to report the injury.
The Sergeant took notes. The officers then began to re-handcuff the arrestee. They were going to 'cuff her in front and wrap the seat belt around the chain. The Sergeant ordered them NOT to put handcuffs on the arrestee. The oficer then declared that he would not take the female in his car without cuffs, especially after the fight he had with the arrestee at the stop. The Sergeant then placed the female in his right front seat, like a normal passenger. He put his weapon and gunbelt in his trunk so the female could not grab it. The Sergeant began to drive to the County Hospital. Five miles later, the Sergeant was at 65 mph, when the arrestee opened the door and tried to get out.

The Sergeant had earned the nickname "Gun in Trunk".