Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in California

This is a dicey one but it goes like this: an officer is allowed to take whatever non-lethal and reasonable steps to protect himself or herself during the course of a custodial interrogation (hence people handcuffed to tables while sitting in the police department). Without knowing all of the circumstances, if the officer was considering a custodial arrest, then he or she within his or her rights to handcuff the person being questioned. If you have a criminal record or history, the officer quite frankly may have opted to handcuff you as a precaution given past history.

My sense is that if you feel that handcuffing was unnecessary, done for harassment or humiliation purposes, then you should consider writing a complaint letter to the local chief of police or sheriff. It is unlikely that anything further would happen but if there is a sizable collection of complaints such as yours, then it is quite possible things could change. good luck with this.