Webinar- Dangerous Restraint Techniques

The use of force by police in the execution of their duty is unavoidable, contrary to the expectations of the general public. Every law enforcement officer would likely use some type of restraint more than once during his or her career. Some people will suddenly die while being restrained, or shortly after. Could such deaths be avoided? Did the person die solely because of restraint? If not, did restraint contribute to death? Such questions could not be answered by yes or no. What could be done is to minimize the risk of death and injury of a person in custody by learning why some restraint methods are more dangerous than others.

The training manual of the Minneapolis Police Department classified neck restraint as a non-deadly force option and chock hold as a deadly force option. The author(s) of the manual provided false information. Both methods are potentially deadly, as they involve compression of the carotid arteries. The Minneapolis police banned chock holds and carotid sleeper holds in summer 2020. By then, hundreds of officers had been trained to use the neck restraint without knowing the consequences.

During my career as a forensic pathologist, I’ve encountered police officers who would say: “Doc, I know not to apply pressure to the neck, but I don’t know why it is dangerous. People would pass out and recover quickly. What is the big deal?” Or, “Can you explain positional asphyxia?” I will cover both topics and more in my presentation.

• Restraint methods commonly used by police

• Current and prohibited

• Restraint devices

• Definition of asphyxia and its types

• Potentially deadly complications associated with certain types of restraint (neck compression, hog-tie)

• Role of excited delirium in sudden death in restraint

• Is prone position per se dangerous?

• Experiments on healthy volunteers and observation studies – are they useful?

• Basic Life Support (BLS) Covid-adapted algorithm (always good to refresh!)