They are pointy as they can be, spike strips. Its designed to puncture and flatten tires during high-speed pursuits.
Usually putting a stop to the suspect being chased by officers. "We can deploy it from the side of the road. We can still let traffic flow freely." said Deputy Marcus McLellan with Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
McLellan tells 12News spike strips were almost used during a dramatic chase involving Jefferson, Chambers, and Harris County that led to an officer involved shooting.
But on Tuesday, Baytown officers quickly changed their minds.
"Baytown police was going to attempt to use them but from the information we have, the individual attempted to strike one of the officers that was going to deploy the spikes so they called it off." McLellan said.
In 2011, Beaumont police officer, Bryan Hebert was intentionally struck and killed while trying to get his spike strips from his trunk.
McLellan tells 12News officers are always cautious and aware when it comes to deploying the deflation device.
"Every officer that spends time on patrol is trained on how to deploy the spikes effectively." he said.