Richmond police hope a new high-tech lasso can help cut down on use of force

Giddyup, Richmond. The police department has the BolaWrap 150.

The tool, a sort of high-tech lasso that restrains people by shooting out thin Kevlar cords that wrap around their body, is the latest craze in policing as departments look for new ways to get “non-compliant” individuals to fall in line without escalating situations further. 

Last year, the Fairfax County Police Department acquired 450 BolaWraps, and now the Richmond Police Department has followed suit by buying 50 of its own. Of those, 42 were pushed out into the field last Friday, although no one has yet been wrapped. VCU Police have also said they are evaluating the technology. 

“The idea is that you use it early in an encounter to try to avoid, or at least lessen, the amount of force that you might have to use down the road,” said Sgt. Andre Guevara, a member of RPD’s body-worn camera and weapons unit who has been helping train the division on the new technology. 

The department says it paid Tactical Innovations, LLC just over $85,000 for the devices, as well as holsters, belt attachments, cassettes containing the Kevlar cord and training on their use.

RPD says the BolaWrap can be used when an officer would be justified in handcuffing an individual but believes doing so could lead to a struggle. Officials say it may be particularly useful in mental health cases. 

“This technology will allow for the safe control of a subject without a use of force,” said Chief Rick Edwards in a news release announcing the tool. “This reduces the likelihood that officers would need to escalate their response to higher levels of force to control a situation.”

Manufactured by Wrap Technologies, an Arizona-based company that develops what it calls “innovative non-lethal policing technologies,” the BolaWrap 150 is a small yellow box that can be held in a police officer’s hand. With the push of a button and the help of a green laser as a guide, the BolaWrap flings out Kevlar cord anchored with small metal hooks to effectively immobilize its target. 

The cords can either be shot at a person’s legs or on their lower torso if an officer feels there’s a need to restrain their arms because of the potential use of a weapon or the likelihood they might take a swing. 

“It kind of depends on what you deem the potential threat to be and what you think is worse,” said Guevara. 

But while the technology works in practice very much like a lasso, it’s much faster — and much louder. The tool deploys with a bang, and officers are supposed to shout, “Bola, bola, bola!” before they use it to give their target a warning. 

The Richmonder agreed to participate in a demonstration of the BolaWrap and found that while the anchor hooks could pinch if the target struggled against them, the whole experience was more peculiar than painful. One moment this reporter was standing freely in a field, and the next she had a swath of bungee-like cords pinning her shins together. 

James Mercante, a spokesperson for RPD, said the BolaWrap “is not technically considered a use of force,” and Guevara described it as much less intrusive than technologies like a Taser. 

“It’s not designed for pain,” he said. “There are those times where you can’t quite justify the use of the Taser because you can’t quite articulate the danger or threat — the immediate danger to you or somebody else there — or the criminal activity, but you know that there’s going to be some sort of struggle and are trying to prevent that. So it kind of bridges that gap.” 

While video of RPD demonstrations of the BolaWrap show it being deployed against people standing still, Guevara said the department has also tested it with success on people walking and running, as they likely will be on the street.

“Nothing has a 100% effective rate,” he cautioned before noting that even partial wraps have their uses. 

“It can give you the advantage that you need,” he said. “If it makes me faster than you, then it does help me catch you.” 

This story has been updated with information from RPD about the costs of the BolaWrap.

Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at svogelsong@richmonder.org