Meeting Time: June 18, 2020 at 9:00am PDT
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Agenda Item

1-S ID 20-00806 ***RESOLUTION - To immediately ban use of carotid restraint by the Fresno Police Department (Subject to Mayor's Veto).

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    Matthew Jacobs over 4 years ago

    This particular hold should absolutely be banned. It cuts off blood flow to the brain, not air to the lungs, meaning a person can be unconscious in 10-20 seconds, but it only takes another 10-20 seconds after that to cause permanent brain damage or death. It's too deadly to use as a simple restraint, and a poor choice if the officer needs to use deadly force.

    You may have seen this move used in mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting, but there's a huge difference: the fighters are trained to tap out and stop as soon as one is applied, and a referee is monitoring, closely, to stop the fight the moment a fighter starts to lose consciousness if they don't. Neither of those conditions apply in a real-life situation. The risk is far too high for an officer to maintain the hold too long.

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    Matthew Woodward over 4 years ago

    Definitely ban this. But understand that this should be the first step of many for reform. I support spending a much longer period training officers in non-violent de-escalation.

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    Martha Brody over 4 years ago

    I support this measure, all chokeholds should be banned.