WATCH: Friendly Neighborhood Cops Wield Spider-Man Device

CORAL GABLES, FL — The green laser dot danced around the midsection of a mannequin dressed in jeans and a baseball cap. Officer Don Lago of the Coral Gables Police Department was learning to use a new crime-fighting tool that looked like something straight out of a Spider-Man movie.

"Don't take the safety off yet," instructed Officer Bob Alonso. "Go ahead and cock it. Laser on. Safety off. Go ahead and aim right below the knees or above the ankles. Fire at will."

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With that, the officer exclaimed: "Bola, Bola, Bola" and let 'er rip.

Nothing happened at first. Realizing the safety was still on, the officer tried again: "Bola, Bola, Bola."

Crack.

This time there was no mistaking the sound — almost like a gunshot — as an eight-foot Kevlar cord was sent hurtling through the air toward the mannequin about 10 feet away. It traveled so fast that the cord was not visible until it wrapped itself around the mannequin's legs — not once, but at least two times.

It happened so fast that a person would not have had time to react much as if they'd been wrapped up by Spider-Man's web, hence the inevitable comparisons to the super hero.

"Taking people into custody is not something easy," acknolwedged Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak in an exclusive interview with Patch, the only news organization invited to sit in on his department's training session earlier this week.

A gaggle of law enforcement officers from Coral Gables and other Miami-Dade communities, including Miami Beach, Miami Springs and North Miami, also seemed impressed.

In addition to the stun guns and firearms that are strapped to the hips of Coral Gables police, some officers will soon be carrying the BolaWrap to police this affluent community just outside Miami. It is home to the main campus of the University of Miami. But, unlike other weapons, the BolaWrap is not intended to inflict pain, only compliance.

That distinction appeals to Hudak.

But with great power also comes great responsibility so Coral Gables is phasing in the $800 devices over an extended period.

"Once we get through the procurement process and the train the trainers, which we're going through now, I see us gradually phasing it in through out Special Weapons And Tactics Unit (SWAT) as well as first-line supervisors and people that would have to respond to a control of a combative person," explained the chief, who is excited by the possibility of being able to diffuse situations more quickly and with less chance of someone getting hurt.

"It's the part of the job that I think we have to be very, very proficient at," added the chief, who commands a 192-person police force though it is a few officers down. "This actually gives us the ability — and it gives the officers another tool — to get to that point where deadly force may have to be an option."

Ernesto Rodriguez of the nearby Miami Beach Police Department told Patch that his agency is interested in learning more about the BolaWrap, but has no immediate plans to deploy it at this time.

"Next steps would be lots and lots of internal testing," he told Patch.

Mike Rothans, a senior vice president of Wrap Technologies, which manufactures and distributes BolaWrap, said that about 15 law enforcement agencies across the United States are already using the device in the field while another 20 are testing it internally.

Having spent three decades with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Rothans sees the BolaWrap as particularly useful in dealing with the mentally ill, people on drugs and other less dangerous individuals who do not pose the same level of threat as someone holding a firearm.

"It shoots an eight-foot cord that on each end has two, four-pronged hooks. It comes out of the tube at 640-feet-per-second," he explained. "It wraps around a person about two times to control their movement, control their arms, control their legs."

Some law enforcement agencies like the loud noise emitted by the BolaWrap while others would prefer a quieter option.

"To make the Kevlar cord come out at the speed that it does, and wrap somebody as tight as it does, it neeeds the half-charge 9mm blank," Rothans said. "We are working on a different type of device for the future that would be propelled by a gas. They're more quiet. They can be used on a college campus."

The device may also be able to shorten some police foot chases for the cost of a $30 cartridge.

"There are some agencies that we met across the United States that the majority of their use of force is at the end of a foot pursuit," Rothans said. "So those agencies are looking to reduce their foot pursuits early."

Hudak said he expects his entire department will one day have access to the futuristic tool.

"I do believe seeing any uniformed officer out there having the ability to use this device," he said, anticipating that his Coral Gables will start using the BolaWraps on calls within two to three months.

"It's a much more humane way of dealing with them as opposed to a typical pain-compliance tool," added Rothans. "All the other tools that law enforcement carry are pain to gain compliance — TASER, OC spray, baton — the whole point of those tools are to induce pain to get the person to comply. This is a restraint tool."

Photo and video by Paul Scicchitano