Although I make every effort to keep abreast of the latest innovations for law enforcement officers to efficiently perform duties and harness officer safety, my window to the world was Windexed when I came across Flagler County deputies deploying a “Shatterball” to rescue a child from the locked, heated confines of a car.
On May 20, 2024, the public safety dispatchers staffing the 9-1-1 lines in Flagler County, Florida, received a call from a pair of parents who contacted the sheriff’s office to summon help getting their one-year-old child from a locked car sweltering in intense heat.
According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) press release, the car’s engine was off (no A/C) and all windows were up. (I checked the temperature records for the reported day/time of this lifesaving operation: It was 86 degrees when deputies promptly arrived to save the child!)
“At approximately 5:05 p.m., the FCSO Communications Center received a 9-1-1 call from a woman reporting that her daughter had accidentally been locked inside a vehicle in the parking lot of Walmart in Palm Coast. FCSO deputies and a Palm Coast Fire Department (PCFD) engine were dispatched to the scene,” an FCSO spokesperson explained.
Having shopped at that particular Walmart, there are zero trees under which to park for the benefit of shade (like most Walmart locations), making it intensely hot inside buttoned-up autos whose engines are off.
Per the child’s parents, their baby “had been locked in the vehicle between eight and 10 minutes.”
“Deputy First Class Finn and Deputy Harrison were the first to arrive on the scene. Upon arrival, the deputies located a male and female standing outside the vehicle, which was not running. According to the male, he had placed the child in the vehicle, gone around to the other side, and discovered the door was locked and the keys were locked inside the vehicle,” the FCSO press release explained.
“Due to the heat [and no ventilation], deputies observed the child to be sweating and appearing to be in distress.”
Having worked several such calls in my police career, the go-to tool to use for expediency is the ASP (metal collapsible baton) to smash the window farthest from the child locked within. Murphy’s Law: Sometimes I had shards of broken auto glass lodged in my flesh and/or noticed glints of glass particulate clinging to my blue uniform.
(Photo courtesy of Shatter Tactical.)
“Work with what you have,” they said. Fastidiously clearing the remainder of the jagged glass, like a set of teeth ready to clamp down on the first arm coming through the door frame, amounted to some injury…but we always eventually got the endangered party out. Our cuts were tended to either on-scene (first-aid kit) or at the nearest fire station.
Gauze be gone! Enter Shatterball!
“Shatterball significantly reduces the odds of injury to First Responders while breaching auto glass. Stand back, stay safe, simple toss,” a Shatter Tactical press release distinguished.
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(Shatterball tests produced buckets of glass shards. Photo courtesy of Shatter Tactical.)
When using my baton, the possibility of glass shards dispersing too close to the child (or passed-out-cold drunk driver or sober person experiencing a medical emergency when immediate access is necessary) was a proximity concern regardless of distance.
In this scenario in Flagler County, the mom asked one of the deputies if he had a Slim Jim (not the salty beef jerky kind). Those slender metal devices are designed to finagle and strike the sweet spot for success, eventually unlocking the door’s security mechanism.
In this situation, with 10 minutes already burned and an extremely young life on the brink of heatstroke, immediacy is crucial.
Enter a deputy equipped with Shatterball by Shatter Tactical!
One of the deputies brandished this novel marble-sized handheld innovation engineered for glass breaches…designed so that law enforcement officers can maintain a safe distance away from catching any shards in efforts to break glass panes.
Giving credit where credit is due, the ominous results of the pandemic somehow managed to produce some positive yield, especially for law enforcement officers: “The Shatter line was brought to life by inventor Joe Johnson of Minnesota. After being displaced by Covid, he turned his full attention to making life easier and safer for First Responders,” Made right here in the USA.
These things remind me of pinball machines and the chrome ball that bounced off “bumpers,” caused a light show, and dinged up points on the scoreboard.
A Shatterball has tool and die crafting, some “smooth” points, interesting grooves, and is about the size of a quarter.
(Photo courtesy of Shatter Tactical.)
Its modest size means this police gadget can be easily fashioned on a LEO’s duty belt or within one of the pouches of a flak vest. The manufacturer offers a “holster” that is a nylon-weave pouch to contain Shatterball devices.
(Photo courtesy of Shatter Tactical.)
Shatterballs are made of steel, weigh 1.16 oz., and are .988-inch in circumference.
A minor disclaimer per the manufacturer: “Shatterballs are not designed for nor are they effective at breaching laminated glass. Laminated glass is utilized in ALL front windshields and some driver-side and passenger-side front door glass. Laminated front door glass is found in approximately 3% of vehicles currently on the road. If you encounter a laminated window in the field, simply deploy Shatterball through the rear door glass.”
Viewing several demonstrations by various police organizations that have added Shatterball to their repertoire of equipment for sworn personnel to deploy, I’m impressed with the tactical advantage accorded LEOs, especially in a bite-size instrument that can quickly breach glass and enable lifesaving operations.
Back to the sheriff’s office bulletin regarding this child-saving breach…
“Deputy Harrison then utilized Shatterballs to break the rear-passenger window of the vehicle, the farthest window from where the child was located. He then cleared the remaining glass with his collapsible baton and unlocked the vehicle [door] from the inside. The child was retrieved and assessed by the PCFD [Palm Coast Fire Department], where she was determined to be okay, despite the exposure to extreme heat.”
Look at the body-worn camera footage captured by the deputies on scene:
From the figurehead who approved S
hatterball for his deputies, Sheriff Rick Staly offered a shout-out punctuated with a stark reminder:
“Thanks to the quick response of our deputies, this child was safely rescued, and a tragic incident was avoided. Although this was an accident, I would like to take this time to remind parents of the dangers of leaving a child in a parked car at any time, especially if it is not running. Heatstroke can happen very quickly, even if it does not seem that hot outside. Remember, if it has a heartbeat, do not leave them in your car.”
With that, the algorithm did its things, dishing up other viable uses for Shatterball…
Although thankful it is not too common, first responders engage in freeing people trapped in a mostly submerged auto taking on water, sinking deep into the murky substrate, causing doors to be immovable. A Shatterball could effectively breach the side windows before full submersion, helping to liberate occupants from the roughly 2000-pound anchor with wheels…
(Photo courtesy of Shatter Tactical.)
Another effective use of Shatterball is in overturned vehicles in which the driver is trapped, likely unconscious, and the fire/rescue apparatus cutting through thick pillars and mainframe areas to extricate the occupant(s) is time-consuming.
One projection of a Shatterball can facilitate carving enough space for a first responder to fit through and pull victims to safety for immediate medical treatment.
“Bolt cutters work. Shatterball works better. Stand back and stay safe with a simple toss” is what the Shatter Tactical website harps.
The only potential problem I foresee police agencies encountering concerning equipping their first responders with Shatterball is a budget deficit due to defunding champions, severely limiting cops’ life-saving mission because of misguided folks depriving dollars to acquire innovations engineered for public safety feats.
Sure, law enforcement personnel might personally foot the bill and procure Shatterball but police agencies are governed by policies outlining what can be used for duty and how.
Nevertheless, this innovation underscores what police academies echo with good measure: Officer safety!
On that note, a company spokesperson iterated their credo: “Shatterball is a one-inch spiked (non-sharp) metal ball developed to easily breach tempered auto glass. As simple as tossing a dart, Shatterball [is] designed to be deployed by hand from a safe distance.”
One last thing that makes Shatterball cost-effective: They are “permanent and reusable.” Cops deploying them can easily retrieve the breaching nuggets (waterborne cops are the exception), re-holster, and move on to the next call…