B.C. police force adopts flying ‘BolaWraps’ for arresting fleeing suspects

The Abbotsford Police Department has become the first Canadian law enforcement agency to use the “BolaWrap” to catch fleeing suspects.

For the past 10 months, police in Abbotsford, B.C., have been field testing “BolaWraps,” a tool to apprehend fleeing suspects by wrapping them in a tether.

“We were able to use it on the road successfully in approximately 12 to 15 deployments that resulted in no injuries to the subject, and ultimately aided in an apprehension or arrest of the subject,” said Const. Alex Odintsov, who is part of the Abbotsford Police Department’s training section.

Now the B.C. government has officially given them the green light, making Abbotsford the major Canadian city to put BolaWraps into daily use by its police department. Officers demonstrated how the devices work for the media on Thursday.

“The most effective distance for a rapid deployment is between 10 and 25 feet. The ideal is around 15 feet,” said Odintsov. “So officers have to continually judge and reassess the distance depending on how the subject is moving and the officer is moving, and it just adds to the dynamic situation of the use of force.”

Abbotsford police have purchased six BolaWrap devices, which are the size of a cellphone and fire much like a gun, at a cost of USD$1,500 each. The one-time use cartridges are an ongoing expense.

“Inside (the cartridge) you have two anchors that have barbed hooks designed to stick to clothing, and they’re attached to a Kevlar tether. When it comes out, it does it at an angle, and it lets the tether spread and then bind to the clothing,” said Odintsov.

“It also has a noise aspect to it. It’s loud on deployment, a sort of startling effect, and that gives the officers that reactionary time to close the distance and potentially go hands on,” he added.

The wrap can be easily cut away with scissors once the suspect is in custody. Abbotsford police say it appears to be the safest less-lethal tool that an officer can use to detain a suspect.

“We’re not saying that this tool is designed to replace anything,” Odintsov said. “This is an additional piece of kit that officers can choose to equip, and hopefully, potentially in a team environment, help them solve these situations.”