MIAMI – After a year where the spotlight has been on policing nationwide, City of Miami Police are introducing a new tool to keep the community safe before any use of excessive force is necessary.
The new tool, the BolaWrap, is not a weapon, but an apprehension tool to subdue people who are dealing with a mental health crisis, according to City of Miami Police. For example: people on drugs, or people who are intoxicated.
“This is another option that can help us bring the person into custody, and, quite frankly, it’s not even a use of force,” explains City of Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo.
Wrap Technologies CEO and city officials came together at a news conference, Thursday, to demonstrate the new apprehension tool.
“Rather than escalating and having to use a taser or pepper spray, or, ultimately a firearm, we are trying to avoid that,” says Wrap Technologies CEO Tom Smith.
“We want to affectively be able to apprehend people,” says City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. “We want to bring people to justice.”
The goal of the tool is to avoid any excessive force arrest, especially at a time when policing is under the microscope.