Is it common practice to put on the hand brakes during a smog check?

During my smog check last week, I noticed the guy pulled my hand brakes all the way up as he was accelerating. I have a Corolla so it is front wheel drive and those were the tires on the rollers. I asked him and he said he has to engage the hand brakes and that the hand brakes only control the rear wheels. Is this true? I thought hand brakes controlled all 4 wheels. I was afraid he didn't know what he was doing and had the brake on while stepping on the gas.