{"id":245256,"date":"2026-03-31T16:17:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/245256\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T16:17:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:17:10","slug":"california-sheriffs-department-to-utilize-batman-like-gadget-to-halt-car-chases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/245256\/","title":{"rendered":"California Sheriff’s Department to utilize Batman-like gadget to halt car chases"},"content":{"rendered":"

One California sheriff\u2019s department is trying to emulate a famous vigilante<\/a> \u2014 who is known for his fancy gadgets \u2014 to catch criminals.<\/p>\n

The Riverside County Sheriff\u2019s Department will equip 16 patrol cars by this summer with the \u201cGrappler,\u201d a a Batman-inspired device invented to halt fleeing drivers.<\/p>\n

The gadget\u2019s inventor, Leonard Stock, told the LA Daily News<\/a> that the idea came to him after he woke up in the middle of night.<\/p>\n

He had been a fan of police reality shows, but cringed when innocent bystanders got hurt in car chases.<\/p>\n

Stock decided to do something about it, and invented the Grappler. The device attaches to the front of a police vehicle, and looks like a net. When a police pursuer draws close to a suspect vehicle, the device can be lowered until it makes contact with the back of the fleeing vehicle\u2019s tire.<\/p>\n

A net then wraps around a single tire of the suspect\u2019s vehicle, and then the patrol car can slow down, bringing the suspect\u2019s vehicle to screeching stop with a long-tether.<\/p>\n

\"AA Riverside County sheriff patrol car prepares to deploy its Grappler net. Riverside County Sheriff\u0092s Department<\/p>\n

Each Grappler costs $5,270, which doesn\u2019t include installation and training. The net is not for sale to the public, Stock says.<\/p>\n

The device found its first usage with the Phoenix Police Department in 2018, and the Riverside County Sheriff\u2019s Department\u00a0became the first law enforcement agency in California to use it last year.<\/p>\n

Stock says some officers say it looks like something that belongs on the Batmobile, Batman\u2019s high-tech vehicle. \u201cI talk to police officers constantly,\u201d Stock said. \u201cAlmost every time, someone comes up to me and tells me they thought it was just a gimmick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riverside County Sheriff\u2019s Department\u00a0officers say the device is a \u201cgame-changer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a game-changer,\u201d Lt. Jason Santistevan told the LA Daily News. \u201cBeing in law enforcement for about 22 years, this is probably the best technology we have right now at stopping pursuits \u2026 preventing them, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riverside officers say the device could save lives. In one instance, a suspect entered the freeway driving the wrong direction, and cops halted him with the device.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you think of that scenario,\u201d the lieutenant told the LA Daily News, \u201cand you think about all these preemptive grapples that we\u2019re doing now, preventing pursuits, one of the things that we can\u2019t put a value on \u2026 what did we just prevent?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we didn\u2019t have a Grappler system, that car went on the freeway, we could add a fatality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The San Joaquin County Sheriff\u2019s Office in Northern California has also deployed the device, along with a third law enforcement agency in California. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One California sheriff\u2019s department is trying to emulate a famous vigilante \u2014 who is known for his fancy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[41051,7,9,8,109771,4182,236,3586],"class_list":["post-245256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-batman","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-gadgets","tag-metro","tag-police","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}