As a national protest movement around police reform and racial justice continues, local law enforcement agencies are reviewing their “use of force” protocols in conjunction with calls for reform across the U.S., including the controversial use of chokeholds.
Police departments nationwide have taken steps to reduce police violence by implementing or considering a set of policy recommendations called “8 Can’t Wait.”
“8 Can’t Wait” suggests eight use-of-force policy changes police departments could make without legislative action. Campaign Zero, organizers of the 8 Can’t Wait campaign, claim that with these policies in place, police violence could be reduced by up to 72 percent.
Law enforcement agencies in both large cities and small towns are considering some or all of these changes, including departments in Jefferson County.
Of the eight policy recommendations being touted, local law enforcement already meet the standard of six, officials said.
The others — banning chokeholds and shooting at moving vehicles — are under review but not without some hesitation.
Current policies at the Port Townsend Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office allow the use of the “carotid control hold” and “vascular neck restraint,” respectively. They are different names for the same technique that is commonly referred to as a chokehold. Pressure is applied to the sides of the neck using the bicep and forearm to cut off blood flow to the brain to momentarily render someone unconscious.
In order to be authorized to use the technique, officers must be up to date on their training in both organizations. At the PTPD, no officers are currently authorized to use the technique, while every officer in the sheriff’s office has taken the refresher training.
When used correctly, the technique can be effective at neutralizing a situation that involves someone who is in a state of “excited delirium,” said Sheriff Joe Nole.
Nole had mixed feelings about the policy originally, he said, but was more inclined to keep it when he heard about its use on people who are experiencing excited delirium.
Excited delirium is broadly defined as a state of extreme agitation associated with a sudden increase in adrenaline that may make someone aggressive and paranoid, as well as increase their pain tolerance and strength. People who enter this state may be at an increased risk of sudden death, and JCSO and PTPD policies state that such events should be treated as medical emergencies.
Both Nole and Surber said they have heard that the chokehold technique, after registering someone unconscious, can sort of “reset” their system to calm them down, decreasing their chances of sudden death and continued aggression.
Surber said he could only recall one instance in recent memory of the chokehold being used against someone and it was to prevent the person from actively harming themself.
“There is a time and place for it,” Surber said.
If done incorrectly, however, results can be deadly, as in the case of Eric Garner, a Black man who was killed by an improperly administered police chokehold in New York City in 2014.
“If you don’t see results in a matter of seconds, you’re doing it wrong and you need to stop,” Nole said.
Both Surber and Nole said they will be reviewing the policy but expressed a general hesitation to remove a “tool” from an officer’s “toolbelt” that they could use to save their own or someone else’s life.
“Force” is defined in PTPD and JSCO policies on policing as “the application of physical techniques or tactics, chemical agents or weapons to another person.”
The policies also state that “[officers] shall use only that amount of force that reasonably appears necessary given the facts and circumstances perceived by the [officer] at the time of the event to accomplish a legitimate law enforcement purpose.”
In 2019, Port Townsend Police officers self-reported using force six times. The same statistics for JCSO were not readily available this week.
Surber said the PTPD’s movement on the issue will be in conjunction with instruction or recommendations from the Washington State Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC).
In a letter to Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee and state legislators, WASPC said it is considering the 8 Can’t Wait policies among many others as a framework for reform.
The other 8 Can’t Wait policy that neither organization adheres to is the ban on shooting at moving vehicles.
Both Surber and Nole expressed more hesitation at changing this policy over the chokehold. They both said they could easily envision scenarios where shooting at a moving vehicle would be an appropriate use of force to prevent imminent harm.
Surber said the PTPD has always tried to be on the cutting edge of modern policing standards and he noted that the six other policies have been in place at the PTPD for many years.
“We want people to know that we work hard to do the best for our community,” he said. “I’m proud of the work we do here. We don’t have some of the same institutional problems that other, larger departments have.”
