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Sedalia Police add the “WRAP” to inventory of restraint devices

The Sedalia Police Department has a new tool in its arsenal that allows detainees better access to medical care while restrained, and reduces deaths attributed to restraint related suffocation.

Dubbed the WRAP, the new device limits a person’s mobility while keeping them in an upright position. It takes the place of linking handcuffs to shackles behind the back while the detainee is on their stomach, also known as total appendage restraint or “hog-tying.”

The practice of hog-tying is linked to several deaths from asphyxia, resulting in numerous civil suits against cities. According to the Associated Press, the Weber County Sheriff’s Office in Utah and the family of Glen Lutz recently settled for $240,000 in a lawsuit over Lutz’s hog-tying death. The Los Angeles Police Department banned the procedure of hog-tying after a lawsuit in the 1990s.

“You handcuff people behind their backs and if you put them in the back of a car, due to the position they are in they can have problems breathing and you have an in-custody death. It was a big issue,” said SPD Sgt. John Comfort.

The WRAP is a multi-piece design. After placing an individual in handcuffs and on the ground, the ankles are restrained. A Kevlar wrap is then placed around the legs. Another piece is placed around the chest and the combination is linked together to form a full-body restraint system. A spit hood is optional.

A target time for placing a suspect in handcuffs is eight seconds. To apply the WRAP, or jokingly “to burrito the suspect,” takes about one minute. However, to get a person into the WRAP, it is recommended that two or more officers are assisting and the detainee must be handcuffed first.

“It is handcuff dependent, so the first thing we have to do is get somebody in handcuffs,” Comfort said. “If somebody is completely non-compliant and we are going to get them into this, we do a star — actually get five cops and surround them. That’s the exception to the rule, generally they are already in handcuffs and they’re trying to kick or do whatever.”

Paramedics can attend to a patient in the WRAP without removing it. If authorities bring a detainee into the emergency room, doctors and nurses can also continue to administer care without removing the restraint.

“It allows us to keep them in a seated upright position. We can still strap them into a seat belt, where they are secure in the back of a police car,” Comfort said. “If they are combative and need to go in an ambulance, we can put them into this and still have access to their arms for IV’s, blood pressure cuffs, and all that stuff. This allows us to secure someone to where they can’t hurt us and they can’t hurt themselves.”

While the device has been in existence for 20 years, many cities are only recently discovering its value. It is now used in 36 states and five countries.

Each WRAP costs $970. The WRAP is manufactured by Safe Restraints Inc., a company founded by law enforcement officers to provide products and training that increase security, increase safety for subjects and personnel, and increase protection of property, according to the company website.

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