Memorandum: Carotid Restraint Review 1

Carotid Restraint – Policy Review

Detective Josh Abbott

Central Point Police Department

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Memorandum

As of right now, our policy does not cover the carotid restraint at all. There is no mention

of it in our policy. I understand the reasoning behind this is because we simply do not use it as an

incapacitation technique and actually only allow for it, or any chokehold, in a deadly force

encounter so the language seems somewhat redundant as anything goes in such a situation.

(CPPD, 2020) Prior to this we did have carotid restraints covered in the policy. It had been

previously stated that the use of this technique could be used if the officer administrating the

restraint was specifically trained in its use. However, in the ten years that I have been employed

by this agency, and likely long before that, we have never trained officers on how to apply a

carotid restraint. While I do see the logic in removing language mentioning the restraint, I would

say that we may want to rethink that idea and actually mention that we are specifically banning

the use of carotid restraints, and other chokeholds, unless in a deadly force encounter. I would

argue this would be beneficial in showing the public we are paying attention to current events

and give structure and guidance to officers both new and old alike.

Before making my case as to why this subject should be banned outright rather than

simply not mentioned, I would like to go over the difference between a carotid restraint and a

traditional chokehold. Chokeholds, or a respiratory neck restraint, use pressure on the font of the

neck. This causes asphyxiation by compressing the trachea and essentially restricting or

eliminating a person’s ability to breath and can very easily lead to death or other severe permeant

injuries. (Jordon, 2018) Obviously this is a technique that should only be used in a deadly force

encounter. There is simply no other justification for it. Carotid restraints, on the other hand, are a

bilateral compression of the carotid arteries and jugular veins. Pressure is put on both sides of the

neck, rather than a single pressure point at the front, and result in a reduction of blood to the
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cerebral cortex. This reduction in blood, and of course oxygen, then causes the individual to

become unconscious. (Jordon, 2018) This technique, if done properly, can lead to a painless

unconscious state in 7 to 10 seconds and is not fatal. (Martinelli, 2014) Again, if done properly

this technique should not have any permanent effects. However, the key to this is “if done

properly”. Training such a technique takes time and like many other techniques, needs to be

refreshed. (Martinelli, 2014) Other cons to using this technique are after using a carotid restraint,

an officer would need to take a suspect to get medically cleared adding extra time before said

officer could make it back to the street. In addition, the technique requires an officer to be in

extremely close proximity to a subject which just in itself could lead to an unnecessary escalation

of force. (Martinelli, 2014) I do believe these reasons are why we simply took the language of

carotid restraints out of our policy altogether. I think these reasons, and current public

perception, are great reasoning for the change.

If we are striking the language from our policy, and we are not training on the technique

anyways, why not show this to our community in the way of banning the technique altogether?

Our police department has often been ahead of the curve on issues that are popular with the

public, and over time shown to have positive impacts on our police officers and citizens. In 2007

we were one of the first departments in our county, even in our state, to provide each officer

body cameras, fully outfitted patrol vehicles with multiple cameras, and even TASER cameras.

(Conrad, 2007) Years later we had already adapted when public pressure began to mount to make

these things mandatory. We also received a lot of positive feedback in the media, and from our

community when these new policies were implemented. Looking at the comprehensive city wide

survey by the Northwest Research Group, in 2019, our police department scored extremely high

in citizen satisfaction. (City of Central Point, 2019) Because of these positive results we
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constantly receive a great deal of support from our citizens and city council. Public relations

cannot be the primary factor when deciding on policy, but it certainly cannot hurt to have it be a

consideration.

In a recent memorandum by the San Diego Police Department’s Chief’s Office/Special

Projects team to their Chief of Police they explain, on page 10, that the President’s Task Force on

21st Century Policing encourages law enforcement agencies to have “clear and comprehensive

policies regarding the use of force.” (Jordon, 2018) They go on to point out that chokeholds and

carotid restraints should be plainly defined. It is also mentioned when such actions could be

acceptable. (Jordon, 2018) I believe that we should also follow this advice along with easy to

follow policy on what officers should do following such an incident, such as, but not limited too

medical attention procedures.

The Beaverton Police Department in Oregon released a report in 2015 titled: 8 Can’t Wait

Policy Implications. In this report they explain their banning of chokeholds, including carotid

restraints. Beaverton placed this report on their city website and it clearly explained, in plain

language, why they were banning such techniques. (BPD, 2015) In addition to changing the

policy to reflect a ban, with the exception of deadly force encounters, we should include plain

language explanations on our city website. This would make an easy to find and quotable

explanation for the media and citizens should this ever become an issue in our city and gives our

police department public credit for a practice we have been doing for such a long time.

Our police department constantly strives to do the right thing for our officers and for our

citizens. We have long since moved past using carotid restraint and similar actions and have still

managed to be successful in our ability to use force options to control situations. Banning the use

in a public and meaningful way can only serve to further help our image and give our officers a
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clear structure to follow going forward. There is little question for officers when policy clearly

defines expectations. By doing this I believe we further promote an atmosphere of high standards

and easy to follow policy. This will potentially set us up to be able to more successfully retain

and attract quality officers who wish to work for a professional and future thinking department.

Our department is focused on community policing. Banning of chokeholds is widely supported

by the vast majority of the American public, regardless of political affiliation, according to many

surveys and online polls. According to an Economist/YouGov poll, 75% of registered voters

polled would support a federal ban on chokeholds. (Sanders, 2020) The Central Point Police

Department has another opportunity to show that we are forward thinking and community based

by simply promoting what we already do in practice.

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References

CPPD. (2020, September 30). [Central Point Police Department Policy Manual].

Jordon, J. (2018, September 20). Use of Force - Carotid Restraint Review [City of San Diego
Memorandum]. San Diego.

Martinelli, R. (2014, January 30). Reconsidering Carotid Control. Retrieved October 10, 2020,
from https://www.policemag.com/341089/reconsidering-carotid-control

Conrad, C. (2007, September 10). Central Point cops are ahead of the curve. Retrieved October
11, 2020, from https://mailtribune.com/archive/central-point-cops-are-ahead-of-the-curve

City of Central Point (2019, April 1). 2019 Central Point, OR Resident Survey [Northwest
Research Group]. Central Point.

BPD (2015). 8 Can't Wait Policy Implications: Beaverton Police Department, OR. Retrieved
October 12, 2020, from https://www.beavertonpolice.org/384/8-Cant-Wait-Policy-
Implications

Sanders, L. (2020, June 11). Most Americans support a ban on police choke holds. Retrieved
October 12, 2020, from https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-
reports/2020/06/11/most-americans-support-chokehold-ban