Mayor Sarno states, “I commend Police Superintendent Clapprood on another proactive public safety initiative. This adds to our brave and dedicated men and women in blue’s de-escalation tool kit without use of force. This ultimately reduces the risk of injury to subjects and to our officers. Along with our Behavioral Health Network (BHN) partners this becomes an extremely valuable tool especially during a mental health issue.”
Springfield Police Superintendent Clapprood stated, “This is another tool our officers can use as a compliance technique to potentially de-escalate situations before they become violent. BolaWrap is to be used on individuals that are not responding to an officers’ commands; who may be assaultive, in situations where individuals may be attempting to harm themselves or have known or suspected mental health issues. It is by no means replaces our other service equipment, but could be the best course of action in some situations our officers encounter.”
Springfield Police Officers who have received device specific training will begin to be able utilize BolaWrap immediately. Additional officers will be able to utilize BolaWrap once they have received their in-service training. BolaWrap is a remote restraint device that restrains non-compliant individuals from a range or 10 to 25 feet. The device discharges an eight-foot Kevlar cord to entangle an individual who is not responding to verbal commands. The wrap restricts movement of a subject’s arms or legs and does not inflict pain. The department has approximately 12 BolaWrap devices which be stored in some cruisers or can be brought to a scene by a Supervisor as needed.
