Wrap CEO says Supreme Court ruling builds case for BolaWrap adoption

CEO Scot Cohen said, in part, “Law-enforcement tools, technologies, and tactics are under constant scrutiny-not just for their effectiveness, but for how they’re viewed by the public we serve. As public perception and the legal landscape evolves, law enforcement officers and leaders are challenged to keep up, balancing their constitutional oath to protect and the reality of operational readiness against growing public expectations. As a result, law enforcement landscape of liability is evolving rapidly, shaped by new legal rulings, heightened public expectations, and new technologies. Wrap‘s BolaWrap was designed to fill the critical gap between verbal commands and use-of-force options-a space where too many incidents often escalate quickly. After hundreds of conversations with law enforcement leaders and thousands of hours of body worn camera reviews, we believe one thing is clear: in agencies that have fully integrated the BolaWrap 150 with proper training and policy, it has become the most-used tool on the belt. We believe it reliably and predictably shines and excels where liability is highest and safer alternatives are most needed. The recent Supreme Court decision in Barnes v. Felix will likely have a seismic shift in how use-of-force incidents will be evaluated under federal civil rights law moving forward, which has the potential to change the way officers approach a scene. By expanding the analysis and calculus of the courts to include a new “totality of the circumstances” test, the decision broadens the scope of officer accountability beyond just the moment force is applied. This shift affirms what Wrap has believed since day one: that the best way to improve public safety, reduce liability, and drive better outcomes is to prevent escalation before it begins. In this new legal landscape, officers may be found liable not for how they used force, but for their actions in the pre-escalation period. Departments that lack pre-escalation tools, training, or tactics may face increased litigation risk, consent decrees, and community backlash. This may be especially true in cases where force is used against individuals experiencing mental or behavioral health crises. In its opinion, the Supreme Court acknowledged the growing legal and societal expectation that officers must exhaust de-escalation tactics before resorting to potentially lethal force. This ruling doesn’t merely challenge historical doctrine-it potentially redefines it. We believe BolaWrap is uniquely positioned to meet this moment because we are one of the only non-lethal, non-pain-based-compliance device that can be rapidly deployed at the earliest stages of subject non-compliance -defining a new standard in “Pre-Escalation” policing. We believe the BolaWrap 150 offers officers a safer, more consistent, and constitutionally sound primary plan, especially as courts now evaluate individual officer liability based on the totality of circumstances.”