The city of Springfield, Massachusetts has been awarded a state law enforcement grant to purchase additional nonlethal restraint devices for the Springfield Police Department.
Springfield will receive $50,000 to increase the police department’s stock of BolaWrap devices and to train more than 100 patrol officers and supervisors in the proper use of the equipment that allows them to safely restrain someone from a distance.
The handheld device discharges – at very high-speed – a tether that wraps around a person, pinning their arms to their chest or binding their legs so they can’t run away.
Last April, Mayor Domenic Sarno attended a demonstration of the device at a Springfield Police Department training facility.
“It lessens any type of use-of-force,” Sarno said.
At the time, Sarno had authorized about $20,000 to purchase a dozen of the BolaWrap devices along with the cartridges that launch the restraints. He later called for the pursuit of the grant to outfit the department with more of the gear.
“Better to invest in this right now because it will pay benefits in the long term of saving a subject – even if they’re doing negative things – from being harmed most importantly a police officer being harmed or killed,” Sarno said.
The BolaWrap has yet to be actually used in the field by Springfield police, according to department spokesman Ryan Walsh. He said currently just 30 officers have been trained to use it.
There are limited circumstances where the device can be used, explained Springfield Police Superintendent Cheryl Clapprood.
“I foresee it saving someone’s life or an officer’s life,” she said.
It is not to be used, for example, on someone who is running away, or operating machinery, or is in a position where they could fall and be injured.
“The policy is pretty stringent on when you can use it,” Clapprood said. “I see it being so helpful when we come across a mentally-ill person who wants to hold everyone at bay and doesn’t seem to understand the (police) commands or doesn’t want to understand the commands. We now have an option to just secure that person without using any real force.”
The BolaWrap is reportedly in use by more than 900 police departments around the world, but it has been rejected by some law enforcement agencies out of concern the loud noise it makes could be mistaken for gunfire. Clapprood said she’s confident once officers are properly trained it won’t be a problem.
“The bang shouldn’t confuse the officers but it should put the person, or suspect, a little off guard,” Clapprood said.
Springfield Police Captain Jeff Martucci, who was on the receiving end of the BolaWrap at that demonstration last April, said it does not hurt.
“ You can barely even feel it,” he said. The tether has tiny hooks that latch onto clothing.
Under the terms of a federal consent decree, the Springfield police have adopted a new use-of-force policy. It states officers have a duty to de-escalate situations and to intervene if they see
