NE Ohio cities investing in new ‘Grappler’ tech to help stop police pursuits

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PARMA, Ohio (WJW) – Several local police departments are investing in new technology that is designed to reduce the danger of police pursuits.

The Grappler Police Bumper allows officers to deploy netting and straps that, when wrapped around the tires of a vehicle being pursued, quickly bring it to a complete stop.

A recent demonstration of the Grappler outside the I-X Center looked like a scene out of a Batman or Spiderman movie.

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Among the local police departments sold on the Grappler after the demonstration were Garfield Heights police and Parma police.

“With the number of pursuits we have, I thought this was a way that we could reduce pursuits and obviously reduce the risk to the public,” said Parma Police Chief James Blair.

While the use of other techniques like stop sticks and the so-called PIT maneuver can be effective, in some cases they can lead to high-speed crashes that endanger officers and innocent drivers.

Parma police are now developing policies on when officers can deploy the Grappler and when they should not.

“There’s certain circumstances where you won’t be using it. If it’s at high speeds because you have to get close to the vehicle. At the higher speeds, there could be a risk to damage to the vehicles and even more risk to the public, so in those cases we would probably be terminating anyways,” said Blair.

So far, the city of Parma has invested in one Grappler Police Bumper. The cost is $6,500 per unit and $400 to replace the netting and straps each time they’re used.

Four Parma police officers have been trained on the use of the Grappler so far , and we are told they are assigned to a unit that often ends up in high-speed pursuits.

“They are looking for special kinds of crimes, drugs, guns, stolen vehicles and they are working around the FLOCK cameras and license plate readers in our city,” said Blair.

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Supporters of the Grappler technology believe it’s greatest impact will be as a deterrent.

“That’s the main goal, not just to deter pursuits, but to deter criminals from coming into our city and committing crimes,” said Blair.

He adds that if the Grappler is effective on a consistent basis, the city of Parma will consider installing a unit on each one of its cruisers.

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