Abbotsford police become 1st in B.C. to acquire ‘flying handcuffs’ as non-lethal tool

Abbotsford, B.C., police have a new tool at their disposal that is a non-lethal option to stop people from a distance.

The BolaWrap will be an option for officers who are responding to emotionally-charged or unpredictable situations.

The BolaWrap uses a tethering mechanism to restrain individuals, launching what has been described as flying handcuffs — that is, a short cord with two anchors that wraps around the suspect without causing pain, according to police.

Const. Alex Odintsov, with the training section of the Abbotsford Police Department, said they received the approval earlier this year after a 10-month application process.

“We dedicate a day to the training, the theoretical application of it, then we practice, then the scenario components of it,” he explained.

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“Some situations were when people were actively walking away from the officers.”

Odintsov said they train officers to think about the best way someone needs to be stopped, based on observations and information.

“Deploying the BolaWrap device can have a restraint capacity to it. If deployed at an appropriate distance, it can bind the person’s legs or arms but also has a noise aspect to it,” he added.

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The Abbotsford police have six BolaWraps, at a cost of about U.S. $1,500 each, which came from their policing budget.

“We supported Const. Odintsov’s initial proposal because we recognized its potential to provide an additional force option that could temporarily limit physical movement and reduce the risk of harm to individuals in crisis,” Deputy Chief Const. Jason Burrows with the Abbotsford Police Department said.

“With the tool now approved, we consider it a valuable addition to the range of options available to our members, to be used when appropriate. We plan to implement this tool over the next year and will evaluate its effectiveness based on the data collected before deciding on further investment.”

Odintsov said, to their knowledge, they are the first police department in the province to obtain and use this tool.