George Floyd's killing has already prompted some police departments to ban neck holds and require intervention

The swift response followed protests across the nation - sometimes on the steps of police departments' headquarters - and were often announced in splashy news releases or at news conferences to quickly spread the word and reassure stressed communities.

"We have to show people we are listening. We can't afford another George Floyd," said Art Acevedo, police chief in Houston and president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. "We can't afford another man dying at the hands of a police officer with no justification. We can't have any more violations of the public trust."

The Houston Police Department already prohibited the use of neck restraints, Acevedo said, "unless the officer is in a fight for his life." However, the department's 2015 use-of-force policy did not mention the restraints.

To make the policy permanent, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner last month signed an executive order to create a city ban so "another police chief cannot come in the middle of the night and change it," Acevedo added.

Turner used a high-profile platform - Floyd's funeral - to announce his plans. Ten days later, the department also updated its use-of-force policy to include an explicit ban on the restraints.

Police-reform activists have called for prohibitions on two neck restraints - the chokehold, which restricts breathing, and the carotid hold, which limits blood flow to the brain. The use of either can render a person unconscious and can also be lethal.

A Post survey of the 65 largest U.S. police departments found 40 prohibit chokeholds in their use-of-force policies, while 38 prohibit carotid holds in those policies. These formal rules list the tactics and techniques officers may or may not use on suspects under various scenarios and can be critical tools in holding officers accountable.

The survey examined the policies of the largest U.S. police departments by population served. Together, these departments serve almost 64 million Americans - about 20 percent of the nation's population.

Twenty-three departments said they prohibit or restrict the use of chokeholds but did not explicitly state this in their use-of-force policies. Of those departments, nearly half said the ban is implied because the use of the restraints are not taught.

Two departments that did not state a ban in their use-of-force policies didn't return calls and emails from The Post.

Not having these policies clearly spelled out in use-of-force documents can make it difficult for the public to know what the rules are and for officials to discipline officers who use the restraints, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, which provides research, training and reform plans for police departments.

"It should be part of use-of-force policy, and it should be part of training - both of them - because how can you hold people accountable if you don't tell them what is expected of them?" Wexler said. "You have to make it clear in policy, but if you don't have it in the training, it is an empty order."

There are many ways departments prohibit neck restraints outside of the use-of-force policy including official memos, internal orders and other directives. But some departments also consider a hold banned if it's simply left out of training and policy documents.

The Sacramento Police Department listed the carotid hold as an approved tactic in its September 2019 use-of-force policy but recently removed all references to the hold and released a tipsheet saying the carotid control hold was "banned." A spokesperson said via email that language previously approving the carotid hold "was removed therefore making it no longer authorized for use."

Other departments are less transparent about neck-restraint guidance, although that is also starting to change. In four cases, use-of-force policies posted on department websites as late as June were heavily redacted. The Honolulu Police Department's policy, which had most of the section on carotid holds blacked out, has since been replaced by one with no redactions. Houston police also eliminated the black marks.

Ten of the departments in The Post analysis posted a colorful scorecard on their websites that announced new policy changes or clarified old ones. The 8CantWait scorecard - distributed by the nonprofit Campaign Zero after Floyd's killing - asks departments to publicly state their positions on eight policies, including neck restraints and a duty-to-intervene requirement.

Since Floyd's killing, protesters have been using the scorecard to demand specific reforms of their police departments. "I think people are hungry for actionable things to do that will also have results," said DeRay Mckesson, co-founder of Campaign Zero, which fights police violence.

Police departments have long argued that if officers have the proper training, the use of neck restraints can be safely applied and helpful to suspects and officers alike. They say the holds allow officers to quickly subdue suspects and get them into handcuffs without using a gun, reducing the risk of a fatal shooting.

However, that argument is falling out of favor as more and more departments are training officers on techniques they can use to de-escalate encounters so more suspects can be taken into custody without physical force.

Dr. Bill Smock, police surgeon with the Louisville Metro Police Department, said both neck restraints are perilous, even in police training. He knows of at least three officers who suffered strokes during training when the techniques were used on them.

"There is no such thing as making it safe with proper training," Smock said. "Any pressure to the neck is dangerous and can cause serious physical injury, rips to the artery, damage to the internal organs, stroke and death. I don't care what you call pressure to the neck, it is all strangulation, and it is all dangerous."

In addition to strengthened restrictions on neck restraints, police departments have begun to reconsider officers' duty to intervene following Floyd's killing. Since then, at least seven of the nation's 65 largest departments began requiring officers to intervene if a colleague is using excessive force.

In all, 42 of the 65 departments have a "duty to intervene" provision in their use-of-force policies.

"There are 18,000 police departments, and each of them is setting their own policies," said Anthony Chapa, executive director of the Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association. "There is no national police like there are in other countries where policies can be put in place and they are required everywhere."

Chapa and the leaders of 11 other national police organizations came together in 2016 to create clear guidance for law enforcement agencies on use-of-force policies. One hope was that it could lead to greater uniformity.

At the top of the group's 2017 report was the "the duty to intervene." After protests exploded across the nation this spring, the group gathered again and beefed up what it had previously said on the topic, adding that there should be "accountability for all officers on the scene." The revised report also said chokeholds, carotid holds and martial arts weapons - including brass knuckles and nunchucks, also known as chainsticks - should be banned to reduce the need for such interventions.

Chapa, a former assistant director for the Secret Service, said given the fractured and disparate nature of the nation's law enforcement agencies, he's not surprised that the requirement isn't universal. However, he hopes that will change. "With the duty to intervene, that should be a rule or regulation - it should be taken seriously."

Getting officers to follow the duty-to-intervene rule is challenging because of the paramilitary structure of police departments, according to interviews with five use-of-force and police training experts.

In many cases, the incidents involve overly aggressive veteran officers who were trained under "warrior-style" policing. Rookie officers are assigned to them for field training and are expected to defer to them. In Minneapolis, rookie officers did not stop 19-year veteran Derek Chauvin from kneeling on Floyd's neck.

"It's easy to say to officers that they must do it," said Timothy Bildsoe, a member of the board that sets training standards for Minnesota police departments. "But it's another thing to put your entire career on the line."

Cariol Horne, a former Buffalo Police Department officer, has become the poster child to some for what can happen to an officer who intervenes. She was fired in 2008 after she pulled a fellow officer off a handcuffed suspect as he used a chokehold on the man.

Horne had served 19 of the 20 years needed to receive her pension. She said the man was not resisting; the other officer said he was. "It destroyed my life," she said in an interview.

Nearly 14 years later, the Buffalo Common Council - the city government's legislative branch - last month unanimously passed a resolution asking the New York Attorney General's Office to take a second look at restoring Horne's pension.

Now Horne attends protest rallies, calling for support of officers who intervene, walking by strangers who hold up signs that say, "Get Cariol Her Pension!" Among the speakers at a recent rally was the man in the chokehold that day, Neal Mack Sr., who said, "She saved me. . . . There should be more police officers like her."

At the rally, a pro bono legal team was announced for Horne, including W. Neil Eggleston, former White House Counsel for President Barack Obama.

 

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A Washington Post survey of the 65 largest U.S. police departments sought to identify use-of-force policies and practices related to two issues: the use of neck holds and an officer's duty to intervene when excessive force is witnessed. Neck holds were considered prohibited in departments that allowed an exception for situations in which deadly force would be authorized. The Post determined the categorization for each issue was based on information in publicly available documents, information from Freedom of Information Act requests, interviews and news accounts.