The NYPD has had to throw out several chains used to restrain prisoners in transport after finding they were too easy to escape from. Designed by Peerless Handcuff Co. in Springfield, Mass, the shackles were used for about six months, and were equipped with a large link connecting the cuffs to the chain. According to a memo, this means "the prisoner could open the unused cuff and slip it through the oblong link to detach himself from the daisy chain." Too bad no one told Weezy.
Luckily, no prisoners actually figured out how to escape from the chains while they were still in use—the Staten Island prisoner who escaped from his shackles in January was bound by a different set of chains. Peerless Handcuffs said they weren't aware of the defect, and hadn't been contacted by the NYPD yet. Aptly named NYPD spokesman Martin Speechley said, "It's [usually] not a problem if you don't have two prisoners for each set of cuffs. But it is with a link the size that was on there."
