First state certification advances WRAP's planned transition from device sales to recurring training programs, supporting a scalable hybrid model combining WrapTactics™ digital learning, in-person proficiency and credentialing

MIAMI, Nov. 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wrap Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: WRAP) (“WRAP,” the “Company” or “we”) today announced that the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) has certified the Company's ten-hour BolaWrap® 150 CIT Rescue Tool Level 1 Law Enforcement User Course for in-service training, recognizing 5.5 hours across five categories of mandated law enforcement training.

We believe this certification represents an important milestone in WRAP's strategic transition from selling individual devices to delivering operationalized de-escalation as an integrated program, supported by doctrine, standardized curriculum, digital learning, credentialed instructors and ongoing officer proficiency.

WRAP’s Program Based Business Model

Illinois is the first state to recognize a curriculum developed under the WRAP Non-Lethal System Doctrine, the Company's governing framework for delivering non-lethal response as a professional law enforcement capability.

We believe the progression reflects a central element of WRAP's commercial strategy: establish the doctrine, translate that doctrine into a standardized curriculum, secure recognition within state training frameworks, and enable agencies to institutionalize the capability within their officers' continuing professional development.

The curriculum also incorporates WRAP's WrapTactics™ Learning Management System (LMS) as a digital delivery pathway, allowing participating agencies to complete two hours of standardized foundational instruction online before attending the required in-person portion of the course.

WRAP believes this hybrid digital and physical training architecture can help support scalable program adoption, expand the Company's recurring training and credentialing opportunities, and strengthen long-term relationships with law enforcement customers.

State Recognition Connects WRAP's Program to Existing Officer Training Requirements

The Illinois certification recognizes 5.5 hours of WRAP's ten-hour curriculum across five mandated in-service training categories:

2.5 hours: De-escalation Techniques and Role Play
1.5 hours: Officer Safety Techniques
0.5 hours: De-Escalation
0.5 hours: De-Escalation Techniques
0.5 hours: Laws Concerning Stops, Searches and Use of Force

By crediting portions of the curriculum toward existing professional training requirements, Illinois provides participating agencies with an opportunity to integrate WRAP's non-lethal response program into established officer development and continuing education structures.

Rather than treating BolaWrap instruction solely as an additional product-specific training requirement, departments can incorporate recognized portions of the curriculum into their broader mandated training programs, subject to applicable state and agency requirements.

WRAP believes this alignment strengthens product-market fit by connecting its technology and training directly to established professional obligations, creating value beyond the initial equipment purchase.

From Doctrine to Curriculum to State Recognition

The Company believes WRAP's Non-Lethal System Doctrine advances the Company's framework for operationalizing de-escalation, providing officers with a structured methodology for assessing resistance, identifying lawful response options, making deployment decisions, transitioning to control and custody, and maintaining accountability throughout an encounter.

From that doctrine, WRAP has developed a standardized curriculum designed to convert operational principles into measurable officer proficiency.

Illinois' certification marks the first state-level recognition of that curriculum and, the Company believes, illustrates how elements of WRAP's doctrine-derived training can align with formal state-mandated law enforcement education requirements.

“We are fundamentally changing what WRAP delivers to law enforcement,” said Jared Novick, President of WRAP Technologies. “We are moving from selling devices to delivering operationalized de-escalation as a complete program. That starts with doctrine. From doctrine comes standardized curriculum, and from curriculum comes credentialing, proficiency and institutional adoption. Illinois is the first state to recognize that curriculum within its mandated training framework, and that is an important validation of the direction we are taking.”

Novick continued, “When officers can receive credit toward their existing professional training requirements while developing proficiency in our non-lethal response system, we believe we create value that extends well beyond the initial purchase of a device. By combining scalable digital instruction with hands-on certification and ongoing proficiency, we believe we have an opportunity to become part of an agency's recurring readiness and professional development. We believe that is how we deepen customer relationships and build a more durable, recurring business model.”

WrapTactics™ Enables a Scalable Hybrid Digital and In-Person Training Model

A central component of WRAP's evolving business model is the integration of its WrapTactics™ Learning Management System with traditional instructor-led training and practical proficiency validation.

Under the Illinois-certified curriculum, the first two hours of foundational instruction may be completed digitally before officers arrive for resident training. Alternatively, agencies may elect to deliver those modules in a classroom, with the same learning objectives and assessment requirements.

The remaining eight hours are delivered in person and include equipment handling, decision-making exercises, practical techniques, scenario-based instruction and certification testing.

This approach combines the scalability and consistency of digital learning with the hands-on validation necessary for field readiness.

Through WrapTactics™, WRAP intends to provide a common instructional foundation that can be delivered to officers across multiple agencies and geographic locations without requiring every element of the training program to be repeated in a traditional classroom.

Participating agencies can then build on that instruction through authorized instructors who conduct practical training, assess officer performance and support completion of the required certification process.

The hybrid architecture is designed to support three complementary business objectives:

Scalable instruction: Deliver consistent foundational education digitally to larger populations of officers without a proportional increase in classroom resources.
Repeatable implementation: Combine digital coursework with credentialed, in-person instruction and proficiency validation to support agency adoption.
Recurring customer engagement: Establish opportunities for ongoing learning, refresher education, instructor credentialing and proficiency management throughout an agency's relationship with WRAP.

The Company believes this model can support a transition from primarily point-in-time equipment transactions toward longer-duration customer relationships built around recurring training, digital learning and operational readiness.

Building Recurring Value Through Professional Readiness

WRAP's Level 1 curriculum is designed to teach the BolaWrap 150 as part of a complete de-escalation and subject-control methodology rather than as a standalone piece of equipment.

Officers are trained to assess conditions, communicate effectively, determine whether intervention is appropriate, make lawful deployment decisions and transition to custody and care.

Importantly, the curriculum evaluates the decision not to deploy on the same footing as the decision to deploy.

The program incorporates written examinations, practical skills assessments and scenario-based evaluations emphasizing demonstrated proficiency rather than attendance alone.

The certified course is the first of four WRAP credential levels. WRAP's separate instructor credentialing and recertification framework is intended to support continuing instructional proficiency, while authorized training units and participating agencies remain responsible for delivery under applicable state requirements.

This structure is designed to enable agencies to develop and sustain the capability internally while maintaining an ongoing relationship with WRAP through its training infrastructure, instructional standards and credentialing programs.

For the Company, the distinction is important: the objective is not simply to place additional equipment into departments, but to establish a capability that becomes part of how officers are trained, evaluated and prepared throughout their careers.

Expanding a Repeatable Model Across States

Illinois represents the first step in WRAP's broader effort to achieve recognition of its doctrine-based curriculum within additional state training systems.

The Company has submitted curriculum materials for consideration in several other states and intends to continue pursuing certification through each jurisdiction's established review process.

“Every state defines its own training requirements, but the need for officers to make sound decisions under pressure is universal,” said John Chapman, Vice President of Training and Missions of WRAP. “Our goal is to create a system that agencies can adopt and sustain, with standardized digital instruction, qualified instructors and practical proficiency requirements. Illinois demonstrates how a comprehensive non-lethal response curriculum can fit within the professional training structures agencies already use.”

WRAP believes the recognition of its curriculum within established state training requirements is a meaningful indicator of progress in its program-based commercial strategy.

As WRAP advances additional state submissions, expands its WrapTactics™ digital learning capabilities and develops its instructor credentialing network, the Company intends to make operationalized de-escalation a sustained component of agency readiness rather than a one-time equipment acquisition.

The Company believes this approach can create opportunities for broader adoption, more consistent officer proficiency and expanded recurring revenue streams while deepening its relationships with law enforcement customers.

WRAP's long-term objective is to deliver not simply the technology officers carry, but the doctrine, digital education, hands-on training and ongoing proficiency that support how officers respond.

About WRAP Technologies, Inc.

WRAP Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: WRAP) is a public safety technology company developing Non-Lethal Response solutions and emerging security technologies. Through its integrated products, training, services and strategic technology initiatives, WRAP is committed to Operationalizing De-Escalation and expanding capabilities for public safety and national-security professionals.

Trademark Information

WRAP, the Wrap logo, BolaWrap®, Non-Lethal Response™, WrapReality™, WrapShield™, WrapTactics™, Wraptor MX™ and Wrap Training Academy are trademarks of WRAP Technologies, Inc., some of which are registered in the U.S. and abroad. All other trade names used herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “believe,” “target,” “project,” “goals,” “estimate,” “potential,” “predict,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “continue,” “designed to,” and variations of these terms or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the Company’s strategy to transition from device sales toward recurring training, credentialing and program-based offerings; the expected benefits of the ILETSB certification of the BolaWrap® 150 CIT Rescue Tool Level 1 Law Enforcement User Course, including whether and to what extent agencies will adopt the course or apply it toward mandated training requirements; the Company’s pending and planned curriculum submissions in other states; the development, scalability and expected benefits of the WrapTactics™ Learning Management System and the Company’s hybrid digital and in-person training model; the development of the Company’s instructor credentialing network and additional credential levels; the development, timing, and expected benefits of subscription-based and recurring-revenue programs and technology services; the Company’s approach of delivering Non-Lethal Response™ as an integrated program of technology, training, and ongoing customer support; the scaling of BolaWrap® deployments, customer onboarding, training, certification, and support; the Company’s strategy of scaling its core Non-Lethal Response business while develop`ing next-generation WrapShield technologies, capabilities, and partnerships; the size of the Company’s market opportunity and the demand of law enforcement agencies for the Company’s offerings; and the anticipated adoption of the Company’s products, training, and technologies by law enforcement, public safety, and national-security agencies. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to the Company’s ability to integrate new leadership and realize the anticipated benefits of its organizational changes; the pace of customer and agency adoption; the Company’s ability to execute its transition toward subscription-based and recurring-revenue programs; changes in law enforcement budgets, policies, procurement practices, and use-of-force standards; the availability and terms of technology and training partnerships, including the Company’s ability to maintain its license with Frenel Imaging Ltd.; the Company’s ability to develop, achieve commercial readiness for, manufacture, sell, and support its products, training solutions, and emerging technologies, including the difference between development-stage initiatives and commercially available products; supply-chain and manufacturing constraints; competitive conditions; the Company’s ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; general economic and market conditions; and changes in law, regulation, or agency policy. ATF Ruling 2026-2 addresses the classification of the BolaWrap® 150 only, and no assurance can be given that any similar classification will apply to WrapShield, counter-unmanned aircraft systems, or any other product. The Company’s actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including the risk factors described under “Risk Factors” in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release and are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, WRAP undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement.

Investor Relations Contact

(800) 583-2652 | ir@wrap.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2738daef-a9aa-40a9-ad19-8a67058dfc55

Illinois Certifies WRAP's Operational De-escalation Curriculum, Recognizing 5.5 Hours of State-Mandated Officer Training