COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) -The Columbus Police Department is considering a new non-lethal restraint device, the BolaWrap, following the donation of two new devices.
The BolaWrap is a less invasive remote restraint device. The device was designed to help take control of subjects who have a hard time complying with officer demands and those with mental health issues.
Back Columbus Blue and Chaplain Paul Vorhees partnered to donate the Bola Wraps, costing just over a thousand dollars a piece.
The goal is to bridge the gap and save both officers careers and people’s lives.
Chaplain Paul Vorhees said, “they have to make a split-second decision on sometimes it can ruin their career and sometimes it can hurt somebody that doesn’t deserve to be hurt so this really ends up a win-win for everybody”.
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There are two parts to the device, the bola wrap cartridge and the device itself. The cartridge is inserted into the device that has a laser to help with aim. Inside of the cartridge there is an 8-foot cord that is released from the cartridge and wraps around the subject's body. Once a subject is wrapped this device gives officers time to approach the subject and take them into their custody. At each end of the wraps there are prongs that look similar to a fishing louer to grab onto the subject.
Chief of the Columbus Police Department, Freddie Blackmon is looking forward to having another non-lethal tool to consider.
“First of all, our training division will conduct an assessment and training to determine how effective the tool is for our department and be able to give us good advisement on whether or not it’s a good fit and of course that training will be monitored by me and my command staff to determine which direction to go and which steps to take next as we consider the bolo wrap.”
In addition to these two BolaWraps that were donated to the Columbus Police Department, Paul Vorhees, plans on donating several more around the Chattahoochee Valley.
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