Police Bolas

Police Chief Roland Torsadée walked purposefully along the alleyway, feeling powerful and important in his new role as a keeper of the peace.

Ahead of him he heard a woman's scream then saw a dark shape slip out of a doorway and into the alley in front of him. The dark figure looked back toward Roland, spotting his uniform in the pool of light thrown by a streetlamp. The figure began running away.

Roland calmly reached into a pouch on his belt and drew out a tangle of ropes, each one terminating in a small, heavy pouch of lead shot, all of them joined at a central point. He whirled the bolas around his head several times and released it at the running man.

Roland continued walking, coming upon the perpetrator within twenty steps or so, lying in a tangle on the ground. The man was plucking at the ropes and complaining that his ankle was broken.

Roland had never really understood why TV cops engaged in pointless foot chases with criminals. There were so many ways to avert such unnecessary effort. The cops under Roland's command were growing used to a range of unusual weapons he had introduced, including padded handcuffs, ball gags, black leather restraint hoods, riot whips, silk restraint cords and a few secret unmentionables.