CLEVELAND — Police officers in Garfield Heights and Parma have a new tool to help bring vehicle pursuits to a swift and safe conclusion.
In a Facebook post, the Garfield Heights Police Department announced that their vehicles have been equipped with the Grappler Police Bumper "for intervention and termination of vehicle pursuits."
"As much as we’d like them to, violent criminals don’t often walk into police stations and turn themselves in. We have to go get them. With that, it is our responsibility to leverage technology and innovation in order to apprehend these criminals while minimizing risks to the public. The Grappler system is another tool for us to do just that," Garfield Heights police officials wrote.
So how does it work? Garfield Heights police shared video of the Grappler being used to stop a car in a simulated pursuit in the parking lot of the I-X Center.
Leonard Stock, the founder of Grappler, told 3News that his company equipped and trained the Parma Police Department this week as well. The two area departments are the first in Ohio to utilize the Grappler Police Bumper on their vehicles.
Stock adds that there are now approximately 65 agencies across the nation using Grapplers "with close to 1,000 successful captures." The first grapple happened on Nov. 4, 2018.
"Combined with other intervention techniques such as stop sticks, PIT maneuvers and undercover operations, our Officers have several options to try and safely end pursuits, or better yet, stop them before they start. While no pursuit intervention tool or technique works 100% of the time, the more choices available to us, the higher the probability of success," Garfield Heights police added.