BolaWrap looks like something Batman would use. Now, South Bend Police do.

SOUTH BEND — “Wrap, wrap, wrap,” South Bend Police Officer Brian Meador yelled out before deploying the department's new non-lethal restraining device, the BolaWrap, on a volunteer.

Two ends of a cord shot out within the blink of an eye while emitting a high frequency sound of 158-162 dB . The ends of the cord wrapped multiple times around the intended subject's legs. Anchors at each end linked together at the end of their rotation.

It looks like something you'd find on Batman's utility belt, but it's a real device used by law enforcement across the country. Now, nine South Bend officers — all certified instructors — have it at their disposal when applying force throughout the three patrol details they cover.

A remote restraint device that resembles a stud finder, the BolaWrap can be deployed from 10 to 25 feet away, providing a safe distance between the officer and subject.

A slow-motion video, provided by WRAP Technologies , which developed the technology, shows both ends of the Kevlar cord shooting out of the device at the same time in a parallel trajectory. Once the entire 7.6 feet have exited the device, the cord moves on a horizontal plane, allowing both ends to wrap multiple times around the subject.

The anchors — 3.75 grams each — are barbed so as to hook onto the cord but also capped so that they don’t penetrate the skin.

“This device is designed to restrain the individual,” Meador said, “to disrupt their actions so that officers can safely place them, whether that’s under arrest or detain them momentarily, to forbid them from further action or escalation.”

Dust flooded the empty space when Meador deployed the device. The BolaWrap 150 is powered by micro gas generators that create a dust similar to when an airbag is deployed, he said.

The device has multiple lasers showing “the optimal strike zones,” Meador said, explaining that two main target areas are from the upper thigh to ankle and from the elbow and down.

Areas on the body they avoid to prevent injury are in the head, neck and chest area.

Multiple volunteers reported the effect of the device on them was painless.

A non-lethal use of force alternative

The police department launched its pilot program on July 24 with a demonstration of the device.

“It’s always a mission of the South Bend Police Department to keep an open mind about tools that we can use on patrol or in our detective bureau to respond to situations and to assess the type of person that we are trying to assist on calls,” the department’s director of communications, Ashley O’Chap, said.

South Bend Chief of Police Scott Ruszkowski said he hopes the department never has to use the device, but none-the-less, it’s a tool they have at their disposal.

“We don’t want to hurt anyone, and we certainly don’t want to get hurt ourselves,” Ruszkowski said. “This, hopefully, will be yet another tool to avoid someone getting hurt and us getting hurt.”

Logistics Division Chief Timothy Lancaster was instrumental in getting BolaWrap for the department, Ruszkowski said.

In an effort to constantly evolve as a department, Lancaster said, he looked at different solutions to bring to South Bend to safely assist people or take them into custody.

“We did some research for other alternatives to less lethal types of use of force,” Lancaster said.

Now a BolaWrap instructor, Meador participated in a three-day training session for the device in Tempe, Ariz., this past winter to effectively learn and teach the device. He’s been wrapped 20 times and has deployed the device countless times in training and instruction.

Meador doesn’t see BolaWrap replacing a TASER. He carries both.

“It’s two totally different tools,” he said. “The TASER has its use for officers. (The TASER) is a less lethal option for officers to avoid lethal contact. The BolaWrap is a non-lethal option.”

As a non-lethal device, BolaWrap delivers minimal pain to the subject. It’s an option to use prior to a TASER or use-of-force tactics, Meador said, calling it “early intervention.”

The BolaWrap is a use-of-force tactic and use of it will be documented the same way the use of a TASER, pepper spray or pepper balls are documented, O'Chap said.

Through research and talking with other departments who used BolaWrap, South Bend Police decided to acquire it. Presently, they’ll conduct a feasibility study to test the effectiveness of the device within the department. Afterwards, they’ll decide if BolaWrap is something the department can expand upon.

Situations to deploy BolaWrap

Wrap Technologies provides examples on its website in which an officer can use BolaWrap:

• Emotionally Disturbed Persons (EDP)
• Passively resistant and non-compliant subjects
• Mildly aggressive non-compliant subjects
• Mentally ill subjects
• Suicidal subjects/Persons in crisis
• Subjects under the influence of alcohol and drugs
• Armed (not with a firearm), non-assaultive, non-compliant, non-mobile
• SWAT operations

In South Bend, mental health calls for service have grown, increasing from 363 in the police department's Quarter 1 to 412 in Quarter 2.

“That’s not the sole purpose of it,” Ruszkowski said, commenting on the department's mental health calls. “That is just one other avenue that we may be able to use to keep someone from getting hurt or worse.”

In an Instagram post , providing facts about mental health awareness, WRAP Technologies said one in five adults in America experiences a mental illness, imploring police agencies to choose the BolaWrap as the "most humane way to de-escalate."

Board of Public Safety board member and Indiana University South Bend 's Civil Rights Heritage Center Director Darryl Heller said he supports non-lethal force in almost all circumstances. The board approved the BolaWrap policy on July 17.

But, in regard to WRAP's assertion of being the "most humane," Heller said that it's more humane than shooting someone as the only alternative.

"The example I heard of the homeless man wielding a knife who wasn’t affected by a taser is a good one," Heller said in an email. "Rather than shooting him, an alternative would not be more 'humane,' it would simply be more in keeping with the motto to 'serve and protect.' The police should only use their firearm as a last resort and any alternative that gives other options should be considered."

Would the BolaWrap have been a beneficial tool for the department to have during that incident, later ruled as a justified homicide ? Ruszkowski said yes.

“Ideally, if all the proverbial stars were in alignment, that would have been — it appears from everything that I’ve seen — had one (BolaWrap) been there, that would have probably been an opportunity. Whether it would have worked or not, I don’t know," Ruszkowski said on Aug. 2.

The subject was wearing six layers of clothing, the joint investigation with St. Joseph County Police and Mishawaka Police departments determined. The prongs from the TASER, after being discharged twice and cycled once, didn't penetrate his skin.

However, at the time of the June 11 incident, the South Bend Police Department hadn't started using the BolaWrap on patrol.

“The options they had available at the time were what you saw,” Ruszkowski told a Tribune reporter.

Ruszkowski said the preferred outcome in any instance is for another person not to get hurt and a police officer not to get hurt.

However, is the BolaWrap the most humane way to de-escalate? Ruszkowski couldn't speculate if WRAP was referring to a specific condition or weapon, but maintained that the most humane way to de-escalate is not through force.

"Verbal is the most humane,” he said, before making a slight correction. “Not being there at all would be the most humane, so there was no incident there to begin with.”

All nine officers currently equipped with BolaWrap are trained to know the right situation of when to deploy them, reacting to whatever the environment and the facts provide at a specific time, Ruszkowski said on July 24.

“Every situation is absolutely different when it comes to facts, environment and aptitude of the person we are trying to contain or arrest and/or the officer," he said. "So, there’s a whole bunch of different factors that are taken into consideration.”

Cost

A BolaWrap costs $600 to $800 per device, Lancaster said. The department has 12 devices. Each BolaWrap has one cartridge that fires one tether. The cartridges can be replaced.

A successful tool nationwide

BolaWrap is currently deployed in over 900 agencies, nationwide, Meador said, and is in over 59 countries internationally.

Wrap Technologies calls BolaWrap a “suitable choice for non-violent conflict resolution,” on its website , with the intent of preventing escalation and reducing use of force.

The St. Joseph County Police Department has been using BolaWrap since 2020, with nine officers trained and equipped with the device at the time. By the end of 2021, the number increased to 21. County police now have 30 officers with the device, and the department is working to get more officers trained.

“Just this month, the department ordered and received 30 more new devices for a total of 60 Bola Wraps,” the department’s public information officer, Troy Warner, said in an email. “The department is currently working on scheduling training to get those 30 new devices deployed. Each officer equipped with the device must complete a yearly update training.”

Warner estimated that county officers have deployed a BolaWrap 12 times this year, through which Sheriff Bill Redman said its proven to be an effective tool.

“Bola Wraps have provided our officers an additional option before going hands-on with an individual in non-lethal situations where they need to calm or detain an individual who is physically aggressive or in (the) middle of an unstable mental health crisis,” Redman said in a statement to The Tribune. “If the device can deter or prevent one situation where a resident or officer is harmed, then they are worth the investment made.”

The device, taking in account its size, shape and loud trigger, provides a “sufficient distraction,” Warner said, allowing officers a few moments to restrain someone, even if the wrap was unsuccessful.

Lancaster said South Bend looked to the Los Angeles Police Department 's lead regarding its use of the BolaWrap.

“We’re always taking a look at new innovative ways to progress our department,” Ruszkowski said. “We like to be the trendsetters, but when it comes to these types of devices, any type of device, we like to wait and see what other agencies have experienced — good, bad or indifferent.”

The Tribune reached out to a chief strategy officer at Wrap Technologies for comment on the device but has not yet received a response.

“It doesn’t matter what the brand is on anything,” Ruszkowski said. “We need to see, feel, taste, touch, hear, smell all of these things for ourselves.”

Email Tribune staff writer Camille Sarabia at csarabia@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: BolaWrap looks like something Batman would use. Now, South Bend Police do.