This report is published in partnership with BridgeDetroit, Outlier Media and the Detroit Free Press.

Detroit is equipping more of its police precincts with lasso-like restraints to defuse high-risk encounters. 

BolaWrap — which shoots out a wiry tether with barbed ends that wrap around a person’s body to restrict their movement — was originally purchased to help de-escalate the thousands of calls a year that the department receives related to mental health incidents. Despite low usage — two deployments since April 2023 — BolaWrap devices will be available to trained supervisor scout cars citywide.

The Detroit City Council in February approved a $32,000, one-year contract for 22 BolaWrap devices amid a continued rise in mental health-related emergency calls. Supporters say the tool is a non-lethal, low-pain way to stop someone from moving and bring them into custody. But some disability rights and racial justice advocates say it could be dangerous and are wary of its use.

Detroit Police Chief James White said officers often had to use force in response to mental health calls. 

“We were looking for a tool that could minimize…the injuries from those interactions. That’s kind of how the BolaWrap tool was born,” White said. “We were looking for something that could restrict without injury, particularly folks with knives.”

The department plans to put the new BolaWrap devices on the streets by the end of the year. Meanwhile, officers will be trained to deploy them, and a detailed usage policy is being developed. 

BolaWrap, White said, does not replace other de-escalation tactics, like talking down a subject, but can be deployed if a situation escalates. 

“The overall long-term goal is to hopefully never have to use it,” he added. “But in instances where it can be deployed and provide us with a layer of safety for the officers as well as the citizen, it will be deployed as a non-lethal option.” 

Nancy A. Parker, executive director of the Detroit Justice Center, questions why the city is spending money on a restraint tool that shoots out netting to “trap” and “drag” people rather than on mental health experts who can de-escalate situations. 

Here’s more about the device, how it’s used and when. 

What is BolaWrap? 

BolaWrap was developed in 2017 by Arizona-based Wrap Technologies as a “safer and more effective option” for law enforcement to restrain people, especially in situations where they are experiencing a mental health crisis or during other high-stress incidents, according to Terry Nichols, vice president of business development and grant management for Wrap Technologies. 

BolaWrap is classified as a firearm by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The company currently sells the tool only to law enforcement.

How does it work? 

The device deploys a 7.5-foot Kevlar tether to entangle a person’s arms or legs from as far as 25 feet. When used, BolaWrap makes a snapping, whip-like sound, according to an online video compilation by Wrap Technologies. The yellow handheld device has a green laser to help officers aim. BolaWrap can be reloaded in two to six seconds and is most effective when there is a 10-foot clearance around the person being restrained. The company said it’s intended for law enforcement use before an encounter escalates into violence.

Nichols said BolaWrap is designed to reduce the risk of harm for the person being apprehended and officers, compared to other police tools and tactics like pepper spray, Tasers, batons, or kicks and strikes that rely on pain for compliance.

The BolaWrap tether has small, sharp metal hooks meant to help anchor the cord around a body. If someone is not wearing clothing, the barbs – about half the size of a fish hook – attach to the top layer of skin causing a minor laceration similar to a Taser prong, according to the Detroit Police Department. 

“It’s more like a scratch,” DPD’s Capt. Tonya Leonard said. “We haven’t had any severe puncture wounds or anything like that.” 

In one instance of deployment, an officer in Hawthorne, California, points the tool and directs it around the legs of a person – who appears to put their hands up. Officers, according to a video posted online by BolaWrap’s developer last fall, were responding to a report of a group selling stolen property. 

Another video posted by Wrap Technologies in June 2023 depicts an officer using BolaWrap on a person in LaGrange, Georgia, during a suspected burglary attempt. The individual, who puts their hands up, appears to not speak fluent English. The video notes that the encounter involved “continued non-compliance,” where the person refused to answer officers’ questions, leading up to their detainment. 

Nichols said Wrap Technologies offers training, and law enforcement agencies have protocols and guidelines for usage. 

“BolaWrap is designed to be highly accurate, with proper training ensuring effective deployment in various situations,” Nichols said. 

He cited an 86% success rate, based on 224 self-reported uses since 2018. Those documented uses account for only about 10% of BolaWrap deployments in the field due to data sharing limitations like department policies. Wrap Technologies defines success as the “detention of an individual without escalating to the use of traditional pain-inducing tools or techniques.” Roughly a third of BolaWrap uses were on an “emotionally disturbed person” and 30% of deployments happened while the person was standing still, according to information provided by Wrap Technologies. The device was used below the elbow the majority of the time. 

How are Detroit police using BolaWrap? 

Detroit police who are part of the citywide Mental Health Co-Response Task Force began carrying BolaWrap in April of last year. The department initially purchased 13 devices with funding from the Detroit Public Safety Foundation. With approval from Detroit City Council earlier this year, DPD has since bought 22 additional BolaWraps, bringing the total to 35.

The Mental Health Co-Response Task Force, created in January 2023, is a partnership between Detroit police and Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network. It’s comprised of one lieutenant, three sergeants and 22 officers trained in crisis intervention with behavioral health specialists to respond to people facing mental health crises throughout the city.

Between Jan. 1 and June 3, Detroit police received 7,182 mental health-related calls, up 6% from the same period last year, when the department received 6,774 of these calls.

The response team first relies on verbal de-escalation techniques but turns to other tools if a person is about to injure themselves or others, according to DPD. That’s where BolaWrap comes in. 

“We wanted to make sure that our team had options,” Leonard said. 

Lt. James Domine, who works on the task force, said officers took an eight-hour training course that detailed when BolaWrap is most effective, plus a four-hour practical course on deployment and troubleshooting techniques.

Domine said the task force was responding to a call last year about a man with a history of mental illness reportedly threatening his friends and family with a knife. The man no longer had the knife when the task force arrived, but after he took off his shirt and told officers he wanted to fight, a sergeant deployed the BolaWrap. The cord wrapped around the man’s elbows, enabling officers to handcuff him and take him to a hospital for a psychological evaluation. 

This year, police used BolaWrap once so far. Detroit police aimed it at a man having a mental health crisis, waving a large stick and threatening pedestrians downtown, according to the department. 

“He refused to drop the stick and was swinging it around threatening the officers. The BolaWrap was deployed and assisted officers with taking him into custody without injury to either himself or our officers. He was taken into protective custody and petitioned for psychiatric evaluation,” DPD said in a statement.

Is DPD expanding its use of BolaWap? 

Yes. Despite the low usage rate, the Detroit Police Department plans to expand beyond its Mental Health Co-Response Task Force and equip trained precinct supervisors with the tool. 

“We can use this, in fact, if we are attempting to restrain someone that’s combative, that’s very violent, wanting to fight,” Deputy Police Chief Franklin Hayes told council members during a Feb. 13 meeting where the contract to expand BolaWrap was approved. “There are other scenarios that we can utilize this in, and we will if need be.”

White said the expansion to precincts is slated to take place before the end of the year. 

One of the delays, he said, is that his department plans to put forth a more detailed policy for its use. The department does not have an official policy in place for the BolaWrap. But, among the stipulations for its usage: the supervisor would have to do an assessment on the scene before deployment, the person must receive medical treatment after deployment and there must be a use of force report, White said. 

“Any misuse — intentional misuse — will be dealt with severely. This is not a toy, obviously. These are tools to immobilize folks without injuring them. Any intentional harm will result in severe discipline up to termination,” he said.  

How do other cities use BolaWrap? 

BolaWrap has been used by hundreds of police agencies across the United States, according to Wrap Technologies, including Houston, Buffalo, New York, Miami, and smaller jurisdictions like Fruitland, Maryland and Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Defiance Police Department in Defiance, Ohio – a city with about 17,000 people – has had BolaWrap devices since 2021. As of May 21, it has used the tool five times. Police Chief Todd Shafer said in an email that two of the deployments were unsuccessful.

“On both failed deployments the probes struck an object in flight toward the target causing the deployment to fail,” Shafer said. “In a stressful and rapidly evolving event it is very easy to not see an obstruction that may be in the path of the deployed probes and wrap.”

Still, Shafer said BolaWrap is worth the $12,866 his department has spent on it. He said he believes that it reduces injuries to officers and civilians and, in his view, using BolaWrap cuts down on potential lawsuits related to use of force. Each device cost the department $924.

The Cincinnati Police Department tried out the tool but opted not to move forward with it.

“We did some initial testing with the BolaWrap, but ultimately decided not to deploy it as part of the individual officers’ equipment loadout,” said Lt. Brian Bender, of the Cincinnati Police Department’s S.W.A.T. and Tactical Support Unit, in an email. “During our testing, we determined it was not as effective as a Taser.”

Cincinnati police officials declined to elaborate, citing that the decision had been made by a past administration.

What do opponents of using this tool say? 

When Detroit City Council voted to approve the BolaWrap contract in February, Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero was the lone objector. She voted no because of concerns raised by residents about the safety of BolaWrap and the need for more information and community engagement.

“I do understand my colleagues and the police departments who are trying to look for non-lethal options when it comes to addressing mental health issues in our city, but for me I voted no, because I believe in process, and I believe that we did not engage impacted communities early enough to hear their concerns, to explain to them why it is that we’re going down this route or to even hear their suggestions about something else that we could use,” Santiago-Romero said in April. 

Leonard, of the Detroit Police Department, said City Council was provided information about less-than-lethal tool options. She said the department is available to speak with disability rights advocates and plans to host a showcase of the technology. 

Santiago-Romero said she had reservations about the cost-effectiveness of BolaWrap if its use was infrequent. 

“We shouldn’t be seeing thousands of dollars on new technology that we don’t know whether or not it works, and we should be putting all those thousands of dollars into programming and resources that we know keep people safe and meet their basic mental health care needs,” she said. 

The solution is not a “lasso wrap,” she said, but ensuring people have medication and mental health services. 

Kaci Pellar, a policy manager with Detroit Disability Power, agreed. She said, instead, there needs to be long-term solutions such as free mental health clinics and shifting funds toward resources like the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network. 

“When you’re comparing Bolas to bullets, it seems like a great solution, but the conversation needs to go beyond that,” Pellar said.  

People with disabilities may communicate and move their bodies in atypical ways, which can be interpreted as dangerous by law enforcement, she said. A 2015 Washington Post investigation found a quarter of the 462 people shot to death by police the first half of that year were having a mental or emotional crisis. 

“There’s just not a strong enough argument in my mind for why we’re spending so many city dollars on devices that have not been proven to even be effective,” Pellar said. Detroit Disability Power has expressed concerns about the safe usage of BolaWrap and the lack of data on its effectiveness.

White said the tool can prevent someone from hurting themselves or others. 

Parker, with the Detroit Justice Center, said BolaWrap is a device “that’s going to treat people like animals.” 

“When someone is having a mental health crisis, we’re going to pull this handheld device that’s going to shoot out a netting, trap them at their leg and drag them in. Why are we doing that?” Parker said. 

The device is reactive and not preventative, she said. Parker said the overarching concern is using money for policing equipment that doesn’t address underlying issues and needs. Funds should instead go toward resources, social services and mental health experts and crisis response teams trained in de-escalation, she said. 

“Are we pouring resources into the folks who are doing the work to provide families − communities – with the resources, with the services, with the places that they need? Because when someone is having a mental health crisis, we should be pouring energy into … mental health crisis experts that can show up,” she said.

Meanwhile, Nichols of Wrap Technologies, said the company takes concerns about the device seriously.

“In many cases, once advocates see the technology and fully understand what the technology does, and does not do in comparison to all other existing law enforcement tools and tactics, they are relieved and recognize the value in the technology,” Nichols said.

White said having BolaWrap reduces harm. The alternatives to using the technology in the two instances where the device was deployed “could have been tragic,” resulting in a loss of life or injury to officers or citizens. 

“One life saved is worth the cost,” White said.

BridgeDetroit reporter Malachi Barrett contributed to this report.