Another tool in the box

On Monday, May 10, and during National Police Week, officers with the Owego Police Department and other law enforcement officials were trained on how to deploy the BolaWrap – a hands free restraint utilized to prevent harm, while immobilizing an individual and ensuring safety. And according to Tyson Jones, a 25-year corrections officer conducting the BolaWrap training, part time, the device allows an officer to effectively restrain someone from a good distance.

Jones arrived in Owego on Monday to train members of the police department on how to use the device, and with an intention for its use of keeping both the individual needing restraint, as well as the police, safe.

“This gives us another option that prevents injury and harm during a call,” stated Joseph Kennedy, chief of the Owego Police Department.

The Owego Police Department, which is made up of 18 full- and part-time officers, became interested in the BolaWrap a couple of years ago and was specifically interested in its use for mental health calls. According to Kennedy, the device is intended to immobilize individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.

“It gives us another less lethal option,” Kennedy added.

During Monday’s training, about a dozen officers and others associated with law enforcement attended. Conducted by Jones and his associate, the training also offered a demonstration of the device.

Held at the training facility on McMaster Street, participants gathered outside as one of the instructors served as the individual needing restraint, and while Jones deployed the device.

Measuring in at the approximate size of a remote control, the device makes a loud noise similar to a gun when activated, and then deploys a Kevlar cord that wraps around the ankles or arms of the individual and is secured by hooks. The device can be deployed from a range of 10- to 25-feet.

The remote restraint, according to the manufacturers of BolaWrap, is to “safely and humanely restrain resisting subjects from a distance without relying on pain to gain compliance.”

“It’s not another firearm,” said Jones during the demonstration on Monday. The device, he added, is really about safety.

“We’re not hands on,” said Kennedy. “So safety is the reason. We don’t want to use force to subdue someone that needs help.”

With that in mind, the Owego Police Department has purchased two of the BolaWraps, and has three instructors that will train the force. Kennedy noted that the department should have them in use within a month. 

And the BolaWrap is growing in popularity as a new way to restrain an individual, safely. Jones added that this is the fourth training session they have held in New York so far, and that the device is growing in popularity. 

“Since I’ve been with this company it has been growing with interest in New York State and beyond,” Jones added.

Irena Raia, Owego for Equality member and legislative candidate, was pleased to hear about the introduction of the BolaWrap as an effective tool for restraint by the Owego Police Department.

“The potential impact this has for de-escalating violent police encounters is huge,” said Raia.

She added, “Of critical importance is the message this sends to communities; an officer’s choice to use a BolaWrap first, instead of a physical restraint, taser or gun, ideally is showing that the officer has non-lethal intentions. This communicates a necessary shift in tone from police, at least locally, where the officer’s intent to preserve life and limit injury is made clear, and I want to commend Chief Kennedy and the Owego Police Department for adopting this less violent, and [less lethal] means to detain people.”

“It’s another tool in the box,” added Jones.