Police officers at the Rapid Intervention Unit and Mater Dei Hospital have been trained to use BolaWrap to painlessly restrain persons, the corps said on Thursday.

BolaWrap is a hand-held instrument which fires a cord which wraps itself around a person, effectively restraining him.

The rope can be fired across a distance of up to eight metres, normally aimed at the arms and legs.

The police said it could be used in situations where persons did not obey police orders without necessarily being violent such as people who were emotionally confused, suffering mental problems or under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

BolaWrap has been in use by several police forces around the world for some five years. At the time it was introduced in Los Angeles in 2019 some concerns had been raised that it could lead to abuse.

John Raphling, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, had told the BBC: 

"Tools like these create the illusion that police enforcement is going to be less violent. The reality is that - as we've seen with tasers and other less lethal weapons - they will be used to expand police violence."