Law enforcement agencies are constantly seeking innovative tools to enhance safety and effectiveness in the field. One such technology, reminiscent of something from a Batman movie, is generating buzz for its potential to revolutionize how officers apprehend suspects: the BolaWrap.
Developed by Wrap Technologies, the BolaWrap is a less-lethal device that deploys an 8-foot bola-style Kevlar tether at a speed of 513 feet per second. This tether wraps around a suspect, effectively restraining them with minimal risk of injury. Company officials emphasize the device is designed to cause little to no pain, making it a valuable alternative in situations where officers need to take combative subjects into custody without resorting to deadly force.
El Segundo Police Chief Bill Whalen highlighted the importance of such tools, telling Fox News, “Anytime we have to go hands-on with somebody to take them into custody for whatever reason, there’s always a chance of injury to our officers and the suspects. This is something that might hopefully mitigate that risk a little bit and give us another tool that we can safely take people into custody and avoid injury to both them and our officers.”
Wrap Technologies CEO David Norris explained that law enforcement agencies across the country have been testing the BolaWrap in their search for safer alternatives for suspect apprehension. He noted the initial reactions were often skeptical, with many comparing it to a gadget from a superhero film. “When we first started the company, law enforcement would look at it and they’d say, that’s interesting, kind of Batman-ish,” Norris said. “From that point, we started actually demonstrating the product and people started realizing, ‘Wow, this is real.’”
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Norris is adamant about the technology’s safety, positioning it as a safer alternative to other less-lethal options like Tasers or bean bag rounds. “I’ve probably been wrapped 45 times in a single day,” Norris said. “There’s no other tool out there that I consider non-lethal.”
He also emphasized the potential for the BolaWrap to be used in situations involving individuals experiencing a mental crisis. “We’re in the 21st century, we should have a product out there that can restrain somebody, especially somebody like in a mental crisis that just needs help,” Norris told Fox News, adding that he envisions it “on every officer’s belt.”
While the BolaWrap utilizes two fish-style hooks to secure the tether, it is designed as a non-pain compliant weapon, offering law enforcement a crucial alternative to lethal force. Chief Whalen elaborated on potential applications: “We’ve seen wherein situations where sometimes people might want to kill themselves or harm themselves. They’re standing there with a knife. They’re not charging us, they’re not overtly threatening us with a knife, but it’s too dangerous for us to approach them. So, in that type of situation, a BolaWrap could be used to safely take that person into custody and get them the help they need.”
Tom Smith, president of Wrap Technologies, emphasized the device’s potential to de-escalate situations. “Think of throwing handcuffs on somebody from a distance of 10 to 25 feet — it’s the only tool available right now to law enforcement that can allow them to restrain somebody remotely without having to use pain compliance like a Taser or pepper spray or a baton or, ultimately, a firearm. So, we’re giving them that chance to stop somebody very early on in a confrontation before it escalates.”
The BolaWrap has been demonstrated or used for training in police departments across more than 30 states, with over 1,200 inquiries received by Wrap Technologies. Smith noted, “We have over 100 already deploying it in the agencies — the biggest is the Los Angeles Police Department [which] just announced training 1,100 officers and deploying it next year in their trial phase. And then internationally, we’ve already shipped to 15 countries and have had over 90 different countries reach out to us.”
The devices cost approximately $1,000, with individual wraps costing around $30 per use. LAPD Chief Michel Moore stated that the cost is “worth lives if one instance can save us from having to resort to greater levels of force or bring an increased risk of injuries to an individual.”
Chief Whalen’s department in El Segundo has ordered five BolaWraps for field deployment to assess their effectiveness. If successful, the department may fully equip its officers with the technology within six months. “There is a push not just in our department, but I think in the industry, in general, to try to find alternative ways to take people into custody,” Whalen said.
He believes that the BolaWrap could improve law enforcement’s public image, particularly in the wake of controversial incidents. “If this does what we think it’s going to do and we’re able to safely take people into custody… I really do think that you’ll see this across law enforcement agencies nationwide and worldwide for that matter,” Whalen concluded.