Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel announced an amendment to his department’s use-of-force policy, banning neck holds as a permitted restraint technique in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
Floyd’s May 25 killing while being restrained face-down by the neck “has caused the public, community leaders, elected officials and law-enforcement officers across the nation to re-examine their use of force policies to ensure they meet the most contemporary best practices, ensure the safety of the public and guide officers to come to reasonable outcomes in even the most dangerous of circumstances,” Pytel said in a three-page statement released late Saturday afternoon.
Read the statement here: Davis Police Ban Carotid Hold.
Now, the policy reads: “Due to the potential for inflicting unintended serious bodily injury, officers shall not use chokeholds, strangleholds, lateral vascular neck restraints, carotid restraints, chest compressions, or any other tactics that restrict oxygen or blood flow to the head or neck.”
“This policy change reflects the strong thoughts and public demand for change in contemporary policing today. It also reflects changes to basic academy training that is being immediately implemented by order of the governor,” Pytel said.
On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered that carotid-hold restraints be removed from statewide law-enforcement training policies, saying it and other strangleholds “put people’s lives at risk.”
Pytel’s announcement comes five days after he raised public concerns during a Police Accountability Commission discussion on local use-of-force protocols, saying while Davis officers haven’t used carotid control holds in decades — relying instead upon de-escalation, crisis intervention and other force alternatives — it remained on the books as a potential use of deadly force.
The technique renders a person unconscious by blocking the arteries on the sides of the neck that lead to the brain.
“There are times when officers have to engage a person in physical combat, and they’re unable to get to other tools or equipment they have, such as a Taser or a baton,” Pytel said during Monday’s meeting, The Enterprise previously reported. “In those cases where deadly force would be authorized, then the carotid control hold … may be an appropriate technique to use in order to save a life.”
But some members of the public expressed dismay over the Davis PD’s continued inclusion of that technique, as did several Police Accountability commissioners.
“I think it is important for this commission to consider recommending either a further restriction or a general ban of these types of techniques,” Chair Dillan Horton said. “I feel like if there’s a situation where you could get right to the edge of a George Floyd situation, we should bring that line back a little bit.”
In the days that followed, Pytel said he engaged in conversations within his department, as well as with community members and elected officials, arriving at the conclusion that the policy’s language needed changing.
Said Davis Mayor Brett Lee: “The Davis community wants assurance that we take precautions to prevent any such event like the one that occurred to George Floyd, and others, from occurring here in Davis. We are providing those assurances through our policies, our training, and our actions.
“We continually evaluate our policies and training regimen, utilizing feedback from multiple sources, including our Police Accountability Commission and Independent Police Auditor,” Lee said in Saturday’s statement.
Added City Manager Mike Webb: “As an organization we strive to develop and maintain a workforce that values public service, humanity, compassion and the dignity of all people. Every one of our officers receives training in procedural justice, principled policing, and bias — both conscious and unconscious.
“Additionally, many of our supervisors have been trained as instructors in the concepts of Procedural Justice. To instill a strong sense of empathy in our officers, we have used both law enforcement and non-traditional training formats as recommended by the Department of Justice,” Webb said.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene.