SFPD will start using a lasso-like restraint tool. Does it work?  

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The San Francisco Police Department today announced an upcoming pilot program of a Spiderman-like lasso restraint tool, advertised by its creators as a way to avoid the need for force by law enforcement. 

The bright yellow handheld device, called the BolaWrap, weighs less than two ounces, and shoots out a thin rope that wraps itself around a subject. Each one reportedly costs between $1,000 and $1,200, plus the cost of extra cartridges. 

But how well the lasso device actually works is unclear, and data on its effectiveness is limited.  

The BolaWrap — which gets its name from a native South American rope with weights used to capture animals by entangling their legs — distinguishes itself from other “less than lethal” weapons, such as rubber or foam bullet rifles, pepper spray, and police canines, that rely on inflicting pain. Instead, BolaWrap is intended to be painless, says the company behind it, Wrap Technologies. 

“When you task officers with batons, pepper spray and guns with subduing non-violent criminals (drug users, for example), if the suspect doesn’t ‘listen’ and comply, the only thing the officer can do is use force,” said a Wrap Technologies spokesperson, Lauren Estes, in an email. “And using physical force against a mentally ill person is just the kind of fuse that might ignite a much broader explosion.” 

The lasso tool does not require approval by the Police Commission, said commissioner Kevin Benedicto who, along with the three other commissioners members, heard a presentation on their use Wednesday night. The police department has already puchased 55 devices and will begin training some officers in their use this summer. 

All four police commissioners today appeared supportive of the BolaWrap.

“I was really impressed,” said Commission President Cindy Elias, who said she witnessed training with the new lasso devices and tested one herself — by firing it at Police Chief Bill Scott.

At tonight’s meeting, commissioners passed a BolaWrap device around the dais and inspected it. 

Benedicto said he was pleased with the “thoughtful” rollout of the program to specific units.

But while BolaWrap pilot programs have been adopted across the country, data shows the modern-day lasso does not always successfully entrap its subject. 

The Los Angeles Police Department approved use of the lasso device in 2019 and began using about 200 devices in early 2020. In its six-month trial, however, the department only used the tool nine times, and requested an extension of the pilot. In the following six months, LAPD activated a BolaWrap was just once. 

Eight of the 10 uses in the first year of use were considered “not effective,” according to LAPD, often because the tether failed to wrap completely around the subject. 

The Seattle Police Department also began testing out the BolaWrap in 2021, and reported using it only three times before discontinuing its use in 2023. Seattle police did not respond to a request for comment before publication. 

In the past, police have used less-lethal alternatives concurrently with firearms, raising questions about the less-lethal alternatives’ effectiveness in practice. In July 2023, for instance, a Seattle officer shot a BolaWrap device at a suspect holding a knife. Within a split second, however, their partner shot the same suspect twice with a gun.

Scott said today that his department’s policy for using the devices requires that a “lethal cover officer will be present, in the event that the subject poses a danger of death or serious bodily injury.” Less than two weeks ago, officers fired both a less-lethal rifle and a gun at a subject in Bayview Hunters Point. 

Wrap Technologies claims that more than 1,000 police agencies in the United States and agencies in more than 60 countries have BolaWrap devices, but the company says the device has only been used “over 1,000” times in the field.

The company itself has prepared for the device’s limitations: In cases where the rope doesn’t successfully attach, Wrap claims that even just the “shock factor” of deployment — the device shoots a green laser, makes a loud bang, and emits a puff of smoke — can assist with de-escalation by confusing a person long enough for officers to make an arrest. 

Elias attested to this: She told Mission Local that the BolaWrap might even be louder than a gun. 

There are risks involved: According to the SFPD’s presentation today, officers must use the device carefully. “Avoid aiming above the elbows unless the risk of injury to the subject would justify the use of deadly force,” the presentation read. Aiming the device from too close a range could cause injury, as well. 

Mountain View Police Captain Saul Jaeger called the BolaWrap “effective” and “extremely successful,” and said a quarter of his staff has been equipped with the device since it began a pilot program in February 2021. 

Despite some unsuccessful deployments, Jaeger said, “the noise it makes provides a distraction, allowing officers an advantage to safely detain someone.” 

“There have been multiple incidents where the deployment of the Bolawrap prevented an increase in use of force,” Jaeger said. He could not provide data about the tool’s effectiveness, but said there were “multiple incidents” when a BolaWrap “prevented an increase in use of force.” In one, someone poured gasoline on themselves, and officers prevented a self-immolation with the device.

The only mishap the department has noted since starting to use the tool, Jaeger said, was an officer hurting their finger on a hook when trying to detain the suicidal person. 

Depending on training schedules, San Francisco police could be using the new BolaWrap devices by July.