NYPD is taking some grief for using a bag to restrain a suspect but the technique has been used to restrain emotionally disturbed individuals for over 20 years and NYPD averages using the bag “about once per day.”
Five cops bound the apparently violent man by his wrists and ankles — and wrapped him like a burrito in a blue NYPD bag — before hauling him away, according to the footage uploaded on YouTube.
The video doesn’t show what prompted cops to stuff him in the sack — and the NYPD refused to release any details.
But stunned pedestrians stopped to stare at the man in the bag — which cops later said is used to keep emotionally disturbed people from hurting themselves or others — near 14th Street and Eighth Avenue.
“This is the craziest s–t I’ve ever seen done to somebody in my whole f–king life. Holy s–t. What do you call that thing?” the person taking the video is heard saying.
“Never in my life have I seen anything like this. What the f–k is wrong with you people? There’s a man in that bag like an animal,” he said, slamming cops for the “cruel” capture.
He adds, “There’s a bound human being trying to move inside that bag!”
But using the bag is part of police protocol when restraining some emotionally disturbed people, an NYPD spokeswoman said.
“[The NYPD] uses the device when an EDP is violent and may cause harm to themselves or others. The bag is ventilated and they can breathe,” the spokeswoman said.
They are used by Emergency Service Unit officers, who respond to calls about mentally ill people and other extreme situations.
Roughly 20 minutes after cops zipped the man in the sack, they lifted him onto a gurney and carted him away in an ambulance.