The Abbotsford Police Department (APD) has become the first police agency in the province to use a new less-lethal device to immobilize suspects.
The department has been using the BolaWrap 150, which is designed to restrain individuals without hurting them or using excessive force.
The device, weighing about two ounces and having a range of 10 to 25 feet, shoots out a Kevlar cord that wraps around a subject’s legs or arms.
The lasso-like restraint – made by Wrap Technologies based in Tempe, Arizona – is an alternative to other devices such as rubber bullets, stun guns and batons.
“Traditional force tools rely on pain to achieve compliance. These tools cause harm, hurt and have even cost lives,” states a post on the Wrap Technologies website.
More details about the APD’s use of the BolaWrap – including the cost – will be revealed at a press conference and demonstration on Thursday morning (Aug. 7).
According to the Wrap Technologies website, the device is currently being used by more than 1,000 agencies worldwide.
An email from the company states that other cities across Canada are “poised to follow” as they look for “new ways to strive for more innovative and humane policing.”
The RCMP released a report in August 2021 exempting the BolaWrap from being classified as a prohibited device or firearm under the Criminal Code.
Firearms and prohibited devices that are not exempt are subject to stringent sale regulations and limitations, even to law enforcement.
