BolaWrap® Safely Restrains Suicidal Subject in Florida: Police Bodycam Footage Released
TEMPE, Ariz., Sept. 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wrap Technologies, Inc. (the “Company” or “Wrap”) (Nasdaq: WRTC) reported a successful deployment of the BolaWrap by St. Cloud Police Department in Florida. The encounter was captured on an officer’s body-worn camera and can be viewed via the link below.
According to the St. Cloud Police Department, on September 12, 2020, St. Cloud Police Department officers responded to a call in reference to an adult male (the “subject”) apparently suffering with a mental health crisis. Information provided to the responding officers was that the subject wanted to commit “suicide by cop.” Officers located the subject who was standing with his mother and brother in the driveway of a nearby residence.
The subject’s family advised responding officers that the subject had recently dealt with a relationship breakup that caused him to disdain law enforcement. The subject’s mother also informed police officers that he wanted to be killed by law enforcement.
The responding officers worked to de-escalate the situation by attempting to engage him in dialogue. It was obvious to the officers that he was distraught, mentally unstable and uncooperative. The officers implemented a tactical plan to restrict the subject’s mobility through the use of the BolaWrap Remote Restraint device and deployed the BolaWrap around the subject’s legs. As evident by the body camera footage, the deployment surprised and distracted the subject, allowing the officers the tactical advantage to safely approach the subject without injuring him or themselves. The subject was then transported to a mental health facility for evaluation.
“We are very pleased with our officer’s usage of the BolaWrap in this scenario, and we are very impressed with its effectiveness in the field,” said Captain Ed Mateo of St. Cloud Police Department. “The most important thing is that the subject was able to be taken into custody without injury to himself or to the officers. Not only did we not have to call EMS, we were able to transport the subject to get evaluated at a mental health facility and my officers were able to get right back into the field.”
More than 220 agencies across the United States have BolaWrap Remote Restraint devices, and it has been successfully deployed to safely restrain subjects in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno, Albuquerque, Minneapolis, West Palm Beach, Fort Worth and others.
Mike Rothans, Chief Strategy Officer at Wrap Technologies, commented, “Law enforcement often encounter people in crisis intent on hurting themselves. In years past, the only devices available to police officers were pain compliance tools. With the BolaWrap, officers are discovering a better way to deal with people in crisis. One of the many applications of BolaWrap is to help de-escalate an encounter where someone may simply need mental health treatment, rather than pain and possibly a trip to the emergency room.”
Footage from the body-worn camera can be viewed here.
About Wrap Technologies (Nasdaq: WRTC)Wrap Technologies is an innovator of modern policing solutions. The Company’s BolaWrap 100 product is a patented, hand-held remote restraint device that discharges an eight-foot bola style Kevlar® tether to restrain an individual at a distance from 10 to 25 feet. Developed by award winning inventor Elwood Norris, the Company’s Chief Technology Officer, the small but powerful BolaWrap 100 assists law enforcement in safely and effectively deescalating encounters, especially those involving an individual in crisis. BolaWrap 100 has already been used to safely apprehend suspects without injury in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Fresno, Bell, Albuquerque, Minneapolis, West Palm Beach, Fort Worth, LaGrange, St. Cloud and Oak Ridge. For information on the Company, please visit www.wraptechnologies.com.
