Eagan police hope new device helps stop some pursuits in their tracks

The Eagan Police Department is the first department in Minnesota to utilize the Grappler Police Bumper a gadget intended to safely end high-speed wagon pursuits by law enforcement We re inevitably looking for new innovative approaches to keep the general safe Eagan police Sgt Brian Boekhoff commented This was something that we decided to try out The Grappler is one of various devices used by police to stop pursuits in Minnesota The Ramsey County Sheriff s Office Woodbury Police Department and Maplewood Police Department use sticky GPS trackers to locate fleeing vehicles without pursuing them at high speeds Bloomington police use MobileSpike a device that allows officers to deploy a stop stick from inside their bicycle with a push of a button Boekhoff commented the department s main goal in trying out the Grappler is to cut down on conveyance pursuits Eagan police initiated pursuits last year according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension In the last five or so years our pursuits have gone way up Boekhoff disclosed Pursuits are super-duper dangerous and not only to the subjects but the officers the general inhabitants Since there were agency-involved pursuits in Minnesota At least people died during these pursuits according to BCA details including several in uninvolved vehicles How it works Three switches comprise the control panel for the Grappler Police Bumper John Autey Pioneer Press The Grappler has a nylon net loaded into a compartment in the bumper Police officers deploy the webbing by flipping a switch on an inside console The net wraps around the fleeing car s tire and suspension preventing the automobile from moving forward Boekhoff explained the police car must be within about feet of the fleeing motorcycle in order to deploy the Grappler The Eagan Police Department has Grappler units attached to two of its Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs Each unit installation costs and the net which cannot be reused costs to replace after each use Grappler founder Leonard Stock declared police in states at present use the Grappler He noted Eagan is the first department in Minnesota to use it In the Minneapolis area I believe it s going to start taking off Stock reported In the Denver area we had an agency that started and now we have about eight or nine agencies using it Same with Kansas City Safety concerns Eagan s agenda says the Grappler should be used with extreme caution in pursuits over mph according to Boekhoff He mentioned using the Grappler to stop a pursuit will not be documented in a use-of-force document but it will be documented in an matter account and the BCA pursuit-reporting form Rich Neumeister a citizen who follows privacy issues at the state Capitol has raised concerns about the cost-effectiveness and safety of the Grappler He compared police using the Grappler to a cowboy lassoing a runaway cow A Grappler Police Bumper mounted on an Eagan Police Department SUV John Autey Pioneer Press It s definitely a use of force under the state statute he mentioned There s so much possible for physical harm The impact on wagon control or it can swerve or flip In a case both vehicles involved in a pursuit in North Dakota lost control and landed in a ditch after a deputy deployed the Grappler The deputy s car flipped over and he incurred minor injuries Neumeister has also advocated for tighter restrictions on sticky GPS trackers in the past such as requiring law enforcement to obtain a search warrant or remove the tracker within hours of attaching it Success rates Boekhoff stated that if using these two Grapplers is productive the Eagan Police Department will possibly purchase more Although Eagan installed the Grapplers in May Boekhoff disclosed Wednesday that they hadn t been used in the field yet Related Articles Anoka County Sheriff s Office looking for person who threw firework into crowd St Paul City Council extends state of crisis in cyberattack for days St Paul Mayor Melvin Carter says city work continues despite cyberattack National cybersecurity expert answers specific hypotheticals about St Paul breach US childhood vaccination rates fall again as exemptions set another record The only reason it hasn t been used is that the vehicles that are equipped with a Grappler have not been involved in a pursuit Boekhoff disclosed Had they been in a pursuit I can almost assure you that it would have been used Stock commented the largest part fruitful use is a preemptive grapple where the officer approaches the suspect s wagon unnoticed and deploys the net When there s a suspect that s weaving back and forth and it s a or mile-an-hour pursuit they re swerving all over those are definitely more of the - success rate he commented Just because it s extremely complicated to get the net into position Colorado State Patrol Trooper Gabriel Moltrer stated the agency s Investigative Utility Section began using the Grappler in Last year the section attempted Grappler deployments of those attempts resulted in a productive grapple of the truck about a success rate Stock explained there s no way to document whether an injury or death in a pursuit was prevented with the Grappler According to our police departments that use it frequently they swear that it has saved lives he reported It s initial cost up front but it s keeping everyone safer