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Fresno police chief temporarily bans carotid restraint
Fresno Police Chief Andy Hall has issued a temporary ban on the carotid restraint control hold that California Gov. Gavin Newsom said has no place in law enforcement.
The Bee obtained a copy of the memo that Hall sent to all personnel on Friday, June 5. Fresno police spokesman Sgt. Jeff La Blue confirmed the authenticity of the memo.
Hall issued the ban the same day Newsom said he plans to remove the carotid restraint from statewide law enforcement training. Newsom made his comments following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Newsom said there is no longer a place for a policing tactic “that literally is designed to stop people’s blood from flowing into their brain” and the state must ban “strangleholds that put people’s lives at risk.”
Fresno joins a growing list of law enforcement agencies that are taking action on policy about the hold.
Hall in his memo said he planned to meet on Monday (June 8) with legal counsel and the department’s training unit to discuss future use of the carotid restraint.
“Until we receive clear direction from the governor or our legal counsel, I am directing all officers to refrain from using the carotid restraint control hold unless such use is for the preservation of life or to prevent serious bodily injury to the officer,” Hall said in the memo.
Hall was not available Wednesday to comment for this story.
Police union response
Fresno Police Officers Association President Todd Fraizer said he understands and supports Hall’s decision – but the ban removes another tool for officers trying to restrain violent suspects.
The carotid restraint is not what the former Minneapolis police officer used on Floyd, Fraizer said. He disagreed with the governor’s statement that the restraint puts people’s lives at risk and that the governor and others call it a “choke hold” or “strangle hold.”
“This is a knee-jerk reaction to the event in Minneapolis and the death of Mr. Floyd, where a technique that is not practiced or trained was used on Mr. Floyd and has been universally condemned,” Fraizer said.
In his 34 years as a police office, Fraizer said he’s only used the carotid restraint a few times. Officers are trained to only render someone unconscious for a few minutes until they’re handcuffed, he said.
“Our concern, as the FPOA representative, is that you’re taking away another tool we can use to effectively deal with someone who is violently resisting,” he said. “We don’t use this tool on someone who is passively resisting.”
Fresno State NAACP updating demands
In response to Floyd’s death, the Fresno State chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People issued demands for the Fresno Police Department. The group is updating the demands to include measures from the national campaign 8 Can’t Wait.
The campaign calls on police departments nationwide to implement eight measures that address use of force to reduce the number of police killings. One of the measures is banning choke holds and strangleholds. Before Hall’s memo, the campaign’s website showed Fresno Police Department policies included two of the eight recommended measures.
D’Aungillique Jackson, Fresno State NAACP president, said the chief’s temporary ban is a start in the right direction.
“As long as we’re getting change, putting this policy in place makes it harder for police officers to kill people in cold blood,” she said. “Regardless how we got it – whether it was pressure from the public, the governor, or something he (Hall) did on his own – it’s cause to celebrate.”
Denise Heydt, the political action chair for Fresno State NAACP, said the difference between a choke hold and carotid restraint is minimal and beside the point.
“They look equally aggressive,” she said. “The amount of pressure from that position can have extensive damage on a person.”
Now it’s up to community members to hold the police department accountable so the ban becomes permanent, Jackson said.
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