RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The BolaWrap 150 Remote Restraint Device is the Richmond Police Department's newest tool for catching non-compliant subjects without the use of force. "The idea behind its use is to use it early in the encounter to prevent, or at least reduce, the need to use force once you do go hands-on," said Sgt. Andre Guevara, member of the Body Worn Camera and Weapons Unit and Taser along with Bola coordinator. Sgt. Guevara said the use of the BolaWrap bridges the gap between the amount of force an official can use on a subject versus the government's interest. Sgt. Guevara explained to 8News that after activating the remote restraint device, there is a laser refracted into multiple dots to keep the aim centered and level. Once the trained officer's device is leveled, he or she then shouts "bola, bola, bola!," hits the activation button and the device will deploy a Kevlar cord with weighted anchors that wrap around the subject's body to temporarily restrict their mobility, ability to get away and potential to cause harm to themselves or someone else. "In those circumstances, where you have a non-compliant subject and there's something about their demeanor or something that you can point to that says, 'you know, I'm giving them all these commands.' I absolutely have the right to detain them, to put them in handcuffs. But to do that, I'm going to have to close the distance and force them into handcuffs, and something about what's going on here makes it feel like that's going to be a struggle," Sgt. Guevara said. "In order to avoid that struggle that results in us rolling around [in] the ground and people getting hurt and scraped up — if I can do something before that, that gives me the advantage that either startles them, constricts their movement or something where I can just move in and gain control over them before that force is applied, then that's better for them and it's better for me." The device mimics the sound of a gunshot when launched, but Sgt. Guevara assures this is only to startle the person to allow them to give just enough leeway for the Bola Wrap to wrap around the subject for safe and efficient restraint, whereas other non-lethal devices cause more pain. "It's a low intrusion. It's not designed to cause pain or injury or anything like that," Sgt. Guevara said. "The Taser is considered a larger intrusion because it's pretty painful. It completely incapacitates you when you get a good hit." Sgt. Guevara confirms training for the device was completed last week and 41 officers, excluding instructors, are equipped and ready to use the restraint device when needed. ...read more read less