‘Wrap’ helps Cedar Park police restrain suspects,

Cedar Park police

CEDAR PARK — officer Robert Ducroz said he remembered the idea several months ago, when an intoxicated man he was driving to jail was kicking and trying to escape from leg restraints.

He suggested to the Police Department that it invest in a restraining device he had used when working at other departments. It’s called the “Wrap.” The restraint puts no pressure on a person’s chest and keeps him in an upright position for comfortable breathing, Ducroz said. It also prevents those being arrested from kicking officers, patrol car windows or slipping out of their handcuffs.

People who are highly intoxicated or on methamphetamine often don’t feel pain as quickly as others and can inflict a lot of damage, Ducroz said.

The department liked Ducroz’s idea and bought five of the devices, which it has been using since August, he said. He said he has used it about a half-dozen times in the past two months on people who were intoxicated or on drugs and fighting with officers.

The device comes in three pieces: a strap that wraps around the ankles, a section with locking buckles that holds legs in an extended position, and a shoulder harness that keeps a person in an upright, seated position.

It is applied once the person is on the ground and in handcuffs. At least two officers are needed to first begin with the ankle strap, then the leg restraint and finally the shoulder harness.

“We only use the wrap if the person is combative,” said Tara Long, a police spokeswoman.

Each wrap costs about $1,000, Ducroz said.

The device was invented by two sergeants at the Walnut Creek Police Department in California after a 1994 article published by the International Association of Police Chiefs recommended officers minimize medical risk to combative people by restraining them in an upright and seated position.

“I am proud that we have adopted the use of a device that allows officers to address the threat of physical harm more quickly and using less force than may have traditionally been required,” said Cedar Park Police Chief Sean Mannix.

Once people are placed into it, they tend to calm down, said Ducroz. “Our last guy fell asleep in it,” he said.

The Hays County sheriff ’s office has been using the wrap for about a year, said Deputy Stephen Traeger. “It’s been very successful,” he said.

PHOTOS BY RALPH BARRERA/ AMERICAN-STATESMAN Cedar Park police officer Robert Ducroz shows how to apply the Wrap on communications supervisor Shawn Hight recently. The device enables officers to safely restrain intoxicated or combative suspects and prevent them from thrashing about in a police...

The Wrap’s shoulder harness keeps a detainee’s hands behind his back and his body in an upright position to avoid pressure on the chest.