man catchers

Article

9 Mar

Man catchers, also known as catchpoles, thief catchers or anti-riot forks, are weapons consisting of a long pole with a restraining device at the end. Police use these weapons to trap the victim’s arm or neck.

Man catchers allow police to restrain their victim at a distance with reduced risk of the police being harmed. Once the victim is subdued, another police officer will close in and place them in handcuffs.

Man catchers can broadly be divided into two variants - closed and open. The closed version has pincers or metal prongs in a “U” shape, with spring loaded prongs to complete the loop. The victim’s neck, leg or torso can slip into the loop, but cannot slip out.

An open version called a Sasumata consists of “U” shaped prongs at the end of a pole, but without a mechanism to close the loop and hold the victim in place.

Man catchers are generally designed to be wielded with two hands, but some smaller variants can be used one handed with a riot shield.

Groups of police officers can use multiple man catchers to completely restrain their victim and guide their movements, and in this way open Sasumatas can combine to fully enclose the victim.

Some contemporary man catchers are fitted with electroshock weapons similar to a taser (1).

a brief history of man catcher use

Several man catchers from early modern Europe are held by museums, but it is unclear how widespread their use was (2, 3). Man catchers from this period had spikes inside the collar, which could provide a lethal deterrent to escape, or hold an armoured victim in place. Man catchers were supposedly used in medieval times to pull soldiers from horseback, capture criminals, and defend castle walls against assailants on ladders.

Sasumatas were widely used by samurai law enforcement officers during the Japanese Edo period (1603-1868). The sasumata was one of a trio of polearms called torimono sandōgu or three tools of arresting, which served as practical “less-lethal” weapons, and served a ceremonial function as symbols of office (4).

Sasumatas are still used by police in Japan, as well as civilians (5).

In the 21st century, man catchers are primarily deployed by police in Asia.

In 2019, Chinese Police were seen training with man catchers in preparation for use against protesters in Hong Kong. Media speculated that these man catchers could double as electroshock devices, and it is unclear if they were ever actually deployed against protesters (6).

During the Covid-19 pandemic, police in Nepal (7) and India (8) experimented with using man catchers to detain people while practicing social distancing.

dangers

Man catchers may be less dangerous than other “less lethal” weapons like Tasers, batons, and water cannons.

Being attacked by a man catcher can risk falls leading to broken bones. As with other restraints like handcuffs, man catchers can be used in torture.
Models fitted with electroshock devices carry the same risks as tasers.

countermeasures

As with most “less lethal” weapons, the safest option is to move away.

Man catchers are unwieldy, and ineffective in areas with multiple bystanders, vehicles, trees, power poles etc. Move to an area where the police cannot maneuver long poles.

Multiple officers must be armed with an open man catcher/sasumata for this variant to be effective in most situations. You can easily withdraw from a single open man catcher if you avoid being pinned to a wall.

If you cannot avoid the man catcher, you can grab the mancatcher with one hand on each prong before your head is enclosed. Move your arms up above your head to deflect the police officer’s momentum, then move away.

If a man catcher closes around your neck, you can grab the pole and pull it away from the police officer to disarm them.

Any time that you touch a police officer’s weapon carries a high risk of being charged with an offence such as ‘resist’ or ‘assault’ police.