The Detroit Police Department will receive a batch of 20 tether-like restraints that can be deployed to de-escalate situations without using lethal force.
The Detroit City Council approved the $32,083.44 contract Tuesday, with a lone objection from Councilmember Gabriela Santiago-Romero, who sought more engagement with the disability community. The department’s mental health co-response team uses the restraint tool, which deploys a Kevlar rope that wraps around an individual’s torso or legs. Deputy Chief Franklin Hayes said it would allow police to better serve residents facing a mental health crisis.
“There is often a suicidal ideation and thoughts of self-harm and we cannot use fatal force to interact or stop someone from harming themselves; that would, in fact, make it worse,” Hayes said. “With this tool, we are now able to restrain those individuals from self-harming short of a firearm, if they have a knife or something along that lines that they may want to use to harm themselves or others. With this restraint, we are now able to deploy from a safe distance in which it would confine their arms.”