Police departments across the United States are testing out a device that fires a tether to entangle and restrain a suspect at a range of 10-25 feet, a tool that could put an end to the use of Tasers, The Independent reports.
Forty-nine people died last year after being shocked by Tasers.
Called Bolawrap, the device fires an eight-foot tether to entangle a suspect and prevent him or her from getting away. It’s a bit larger than a mobile phone and has been designed to fit easily onto a police belt.
“Whether it is a taser, pepper spray, baton ... there's been this gap created by the courts requiring that a higher level of force be used at the appropriate time,” Tom Smith, president of Wrap Technologies, which manufactures the Bolawrap device, told Reuters.
“This tool fits perfectly into that gap giving the officers another option to use before having to use that high level of force to end that conversation very early, very safely,” he said.
The company has filled more than 45 initial orders since April. Customers include U.S. federal and local agencies along with U.S. and international distributors.
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