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What does modern policing really need when the call is tense, the subject is noncompliant and going hands-on could make everything worse?
That is the question at the center of a recent Officer.com podcast featuring PepperBall CEO Bob Plaschke and host Lt. Frank Borelli. Their conversation is direct, practical and grounded in the realities officers face every day: rising public scrutiny, staffing challenges, mental health calls, vehicle extractions, barricaded subjects and the need to resolve incidents without creating unnecessary injury.
Borelli brings more than 40 years of law enforcement experience to the discussion, and his perspective makes this episode worth hearing. This is not a theoretical conversation about de-escalation. It is a working conversation about distance, time, control and what happens when officers have another option before a situation turns physical.
Plaschke explains how PepperBall systems help officers create space, slow the encounter down and change behavior without relying on close-contact force. Borelli pushes the conversation further, connecting those capabilities to officer safety, community trust and the emotional weight officers carry after use-of-force incidents.
This conversation does not overcomplicate the issue. It comes back to officer safety, community safety and giving agencies a practical way to manage difficult calls with more control and less harm.
Listen to the full episode to hear the conversation.
