Man catcher
A man catcher, also known as catchpole, is a capture tool for law enforcement work and similar. It is a form of polearm, consisting of a long shaft equipped with a semicircular arc at one end, intended to be thrusted against an opposing individual, with the aim of encircling their waist, limbs, or neck, followed by further thrusts to push the captured person up against a wall or the ground in order to limit and lock their ability to move and escape.
Etymology
The weapon lacks a generic name, instead, more often than not, featuring a descriptive name. Some examples include:- , catchpole
- , attrape-coquin à ressorts
- , Hexenfänger, or Fangeisen
- , sasumata
- , derrubador
- , brandvaktsax, nattvaktsax, bygel
Historical use
Europe
Man catchers were used in Europe during the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, with some countries, like Sweden, using it conventionally until the late 19th century. The European design consisted of a pole mounted with a two pronged head. Each prong was semi-circular in shape with a spring-loaded "door" on the front. This created an effective valve that would allow the ring to pass around a man-sized cylinder and keep it trapped.Man catchers were a sort of policing weapon, and was used to capture people alive by their neck and drag them to the ground where they could be helplessly pinned. Some early designs assumes that the captured person wears armor to protect him against the metal prongs, which could easily hurt the neck of a person without armor. Such could be used to pull a person from horseback. In later periods, man catchers were mainly a weapon against drunkards and other troublemakers. The man catcher was also used to trap and contain violent prisoners.
Japan
Similarly, the Japanese sasumata, as well as the sodegarami and tsukubō, were used by Edo-era law enforcement for apprehending suspects. However, the sasumata was most like a man catcher in usage, as its forked head was designed to pin the suspect's neck, legs, arms, or joints against a wall or the ground.Modern use
Modern mancatchers are often used with shields by police and security guards to isolate and restrain individuals while protecting themselves.China
A type of locking man catcher is available for staff at train stations, supermarkets, and airports in China to capture and restrain individuals in a non-lethal manner.Some mancatchers may be designed with sharp prongs to discourage a restrained person from grabbing the polearm.
In some junior and middle schools, security guards are equipped with non-locking variants designed to seize a person's waist or prevent them from advancing. It is essentially a two-pronged fork, a U-shape projecting from a pole.