Minneapolis bans police chokeholds in wake of Floyd death
MINNEAPOLIS
(AP) — Minneapolis agreed Friday to ban chokeholds and neck restraints
by police and to require officers to try to stop any other officers they
see using improper force, in the first concrete steps to remake the
city’s police force since George Floyd’s death.
The changes are part of a stipulation between the city and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, which launched a civil rights investigation this week in response to the death of Floyd. The City Council approved the agreement 12-0.
Human
Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said the changes are necessary to
stop ongoing harm to people of color “who have suffered generational
pain and trauma as a result of systemic and institutional racism.”
“This
is just a start,” Lucero said. “There is a lot more work to do here,
and that work must and will be done with speed and community
engagement.”
Floyd’s death is prompting reexamination of police
techniques elsewhere. California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday ordered the
state’s police training program to stop teaching officers
how to use a neck hold that blocks the flow of blood to the brain. The
San Diego Police Department and San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
are among the agencies that announced this week that they would stop
using the hold, known as a carotid hold or sleeper hold.
The
Minneapolis agreement requires court approval and would become
enforceable in court, unlike the department’s current policies, which
already cite the duty of sworn employees to stop or try to stop
inappropriate force or force no longer needed. The agreement would also
require officers to immediately report to their superiors when they see
use of any neck restraint or chokehold.
Floyd, a handcuffed black
man, died after Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck,
ignoring his “I can’t breathe” cries and bystander shouts even after
Floyd stopped moving. His death has set off protests around the world.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers are charged with aiding and abetting. All have been fired.
Lucero
said the changes go further than the department’s current policies. Any
officer who doesn’t try to stop the improper use of force would face
the same discipline as if they themselves had used improper force.
The
agreement also would require authorization from the police chief or a
deputy chief to use crowd control weapons such as tear gas, rubber
bullets and flash-bang grenades. Such tactics have been used in
Minneapolis and other cities in the past week to disperse protesters.
The
stipulation also sets a process for the city and state to negotiate
longer-term changes, such as changing state laws that make it difficult
to fire problem officers.
Minneapolis police Chief Medaria
Arradondo said in a statement that he “will continue to work on efforts
to improve public trust, public safety and transformational culture
change” of the Minneapolis Police Department.
“I will be bringing forth substantive policy changes,” said Arradondo, whose statement did not provide any details.
“This
is a moment in time where we can totally change the way our police
department operates,” Mayor Jacob Frey told the council. “We can quite
literally lead the way in our nation enacting more police reform than
any other city in the entire country, and we cannot fail.”
Meanwhile, a man who was with Floyd on the night he died told The New York Times
that his friend didn’t resist arrest and instead tried to defuse the
situation before he ended up handcuffed on the ground and pleading for
air.
Maurice Lester Hall, a longtime friend of Floyd’s, was a
passenger in Floyd’s car when police approached him May 25 as they
responded to a call about someone using a forged bill at a shop. Hall
told the newspaper that Floyd was trying to show he was not resisting.
“I could hear him pleading, ‘Please, officer, what’s all this for?’” Hall told the Times.
Authorities
say Hall, whose name is spelled Morries Lester Hall in court records,
is a key witness in the state’s investigation into the four officers who
apprehended Floyd. Hall’s identity wasn’t made public until the Times’
report. Bruce Gordon, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety,
said Hall initially gave a false name to officers at the scene.
Hall
told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that the situation escalated quickly
and police grabbed Floyd, put him in a squad car, dragged him back out
and then “jumped on the back of the neck.” He said Floyd was put in an
ambulance and that he didn’t know his friend had died until the next
day, when he saw the widely viewed bystander video on Facebook.
“He
was just crying out at that time for anyone to help because he was
dying,” Hall told the Times. “I’m going to always remember seeing the
fear in Floyd’s face because he’s such a king. That’s what sticks with
me, seeing a grown man cry, before seeing a grown man die.”
Hall’s attorney, Ashlee McFarlane, told The Associated Press on Friday that Hall would not be doing any more interviews. She declined to comment further.
Associated Press writer Amy Forliti contributed to this report.