PARK CITY – Park City Police is one of 15 law enforcement agencies from across the country testing out a new high-tech tool called the Bola Wrap. It’s aimed at helping officers deal with people in crisis.
Makers of the Bola Wrap demonstrated its capabilities at the Park City Police headquarters.
“It is a revolutionary product to the policing field,” said Michael Rothans, Sr. VP of Business Development at Wrap Technologies. “It is a non-lethal remote restraint device.”
The Bola Wrap launches so quickly that we slowed down the video to show you step by step how it works. Standing at least 10-20 feet away, an officer cocks the device, pulls off the safety and fires. The cord then wraps around the mannequin’s legs.
“It comes out of the tool about 640-feet a second and wraps around the person about two times to control their movement,” Rothans said.
Officers would use the device for people who are uncooperative and suffering from a mental health crisis. Former law enforcement officers helped in the creation and design.
“I’ve worked with LA County Sheriff’s department for many years and saw many instances where we used force, sometimes deadly force, against people that were suffering from mental health crisis,” Rothans said. “We struggled with ways to do it better.”
Park City Police Chief Wade Carpenter was impressed.
“When I saw it, I thought this is almost like Spider-Man technology," he said. "I was very intrigued by it.”
Carpenter is considering arming all of his officers with the Bola Wrap. Although, they are pricey at $800 per device.
But first, officers will undergo training and then test the devices in the field.
“There’s not a one size fits all tool for everything," Carpenter said. "Sometimes a Taser may be over the top, and so this gives us another opportunity, another option."
