REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio (WCMH) — It’s a device used that doesn’t hurt people and officers believe it could be the future of policing people dealing with a mental health crisis.
The Bolawrap may remind you of one of Batman’s gadgets — it restrains people without causing harm.
Officers at the demonstration held inside the Reynoldsburg Police Department faculty said this tool could be extremely important in how they serve the community.
“The optics of what we do is not always pretty and when you rely something that relies on pain compliance, somebody could get injured,” said Don DeLucca who is the chief strategy officer for Bolawrap. “So the Bolawrap is a very unique device. It fills the space that’s been missing in police work for over 30 years.
The Bolawrap is a hand-held, remote restraint device that discharges an eight-foot tether to restrain a person at a who is 10 to 25 feet away, traveling at 513 feet per second.
Its main use is to restrain people who could be going through a mental crisis and allow officers to take that person into custody safely and without injury.
“We run across people in crisis,” said Reynoldsburg Police Chief David Plesich. “We run across people who are a danger to themselves and we need an option that is non-injurious to them.”
He said other options or tools they have including tasers help get the job done, but they have their drawbacks.
“The tasers issue is, when someone’s tased, they lose the ability for someone to protect themselves,” Plesich said.
That could cause them to fall and injure themselves. With the Bolawrap, Plesich said that is not an issue.
“Wow that’s a great idea, another non-lethal weapon option for our officers,” said Plesich.
Officers from several agencies watched the demonstration of how the new device can be used. Many walked away impressed, looking forward to adding this to their tool belt soon.
“I think it’s always good to be looking for non-lethal options,” said Plesich. “You know, we’re not in the punishment business and people don’t want us to hurt people and we don’t want to hurt people.”
Plesich added he is looking to see if they have the money in their budget to purchase these new tools for their officers.