An influential group of law enforcement leaders is pushing police departments across the US to change the way officers use force to subdue people and to improve training to avoid the “consistent blind spots” that have contributed to civilian deaths.
The Police Executive Research Forum has called the use of force “a defining issue in policing today” and published comprehensive new guidelines that it says can reduce the risk of deaths following police stops. The group wrote an ongoing research led by The Associated Press, which inspired the reforms.
The AP and its reporting partners have a database of more than 1,000 dead more than a decade after officers used tactics intended to overpower people without killing them — the same category of force that killed people George Floyd.
The recommendations of the research forum — which include improved coordination with emergency medical responders, de-escalation tactics, and compliance with long-standing safety warnings — apply to all incidents handled by officers.
But the group focused on a particular type of cases that The AP investigation has repeatedly documented: People in a medical, mentally or medicine crisis who die after police use physical blows, restraints or weapons such as Tasers. The report shifts the focus from blaming people with mental illness and addiction for their own deaths.
“These people are not suspects. They are patients,” said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, who two years ago took charge of a department at the center of calls for change after Floyd was killed there in 2020. “This is not just about making it safer for a patient. This is about making it safer for everyone.” O’Hara plans to meet with his staff this week to discuss implementing the recommendations.
The deaths AP identified occurred across the country and affected people from all levels of societyalthough black people disproportionately representedIn hundreds of cases, officers have were not taught or followed known guidelines for securing people. These kinds of errors were part of what spurred the research forum into action.
“Every police chief, sheriff, trainer, officer, and other person involved in these incidents should take the time to read these principles and put them into practice,” the recommendations say. “They can save lives.”
The Washington, D.C.-based Police Executive Research Forum, led by police chiefs and administrators, developed policy guidelines on Tasers and body cameras at the request of the Justice Department. While the group largely represents large city departments, the guidelines help inform policy and training standards in many agencies, and its work has been cited in court rulings and federal investigations.
In June, the group convened about 20 experts to formulate recommendations following the AP-led investigation, which was conducted with the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism programs at the University of Maryland and Arizona State University, and FRONTLINE (PBS).
While some states have banned chokeholds and other tactics since Floyd’s death, sweeping changes have been met with resistance. A federal package of reforms named in his honor failed to reach President Joe Biden’s desk.
“In these situations, police need to know what they can do,” said Chuck Wexler, the research forum’s executive director. “Because if things don’t go well, police will be held accountable.”
The recommendations, sent to hundreds of police chiefs on Saturday, will be used in training programs conducted by the investigative forum, Wexler said.
While officers used force to protect someone in about 30% of the deaths AP identified between 2012 and 2021, many more incidents were not immediately dangerous and often involved people in emergency situations. Cases like these often became explosive after officers misinterpreted a person’s hesitation or inability to follow commands as resistance. It then escalated to physical violence and aggravated the medical condition.
In one dead AP highlightedmedics and police in Tennessee treated the body movements of a 23-year-old man who was having a seizure as resistance. The mother of Austin Hunter Tuner sued police and other emergency workers after bodycam footage obtained by the AP revealed her son had been subjected to more violence than she realized.
People in these “medical behavioral emergencies” appear to be at greater risk of dying if police restrain them, the research forum wrote. It urged departments to improve training so officers can better recognize and respond to these situations.
Repeatedly yelling at someone in a medical emergency to “calm down” or “relax,” for example, often makes the situation worse, the report said. Police should coordinate with firefighters, dispatchers and medics in advance so everyone knows their role.
The research forum reiterated and expanded longstanding safety warnings about physical restraints, specifically saying that officers should impose restrictions on when and how long they can hold someone face down in the so-called prone position.
The police have been aware since the 1990s that it is not wise to leave someone in a home. tendency to be reserved dangerously restricting their lungs and hearts. The AP found that police often failed to turn over the person after they were handcuffed. In dozens of cases, officers let out cries such as, “I can’t breathe.”
The research forum said police could save lives by rolling people onto their sides as quickly as possible, even if they are struggling, and by having at least one officer check on their health. The group also warned police not to believe misconceptions about holding people in the prone position, including that if someone is talking they can breathe properly.
The report addressed another finding from the AP investigation, namely the recommendation that officers should never try to influence whether doctors administer an injection to sedate someone.
The AP discovered At least 94 people died after being given sedatives and restrained. In more than 15 of those cases, police requested or suggested that rescuers inject a sedative, such as ketamine or midazolam, to temporarily immobilize a person for transport. Experts told the AP that police requests can pressure doctors into using treatments that can be high-risk — especially when someone is restrained facedown — but aren’t medically necessary.
“Let him take the shot to calm him down!” a California officer told a paramedic in the death of a 40 year old man who were given midazolam while restrained.
Some departments, such as Minneapolis, have banned officers from requesting sedation, as has a state law in Colorado. But many others offer little or no guidance to officers, some of whom embrace sedation after seeing it work quickly on aggressive people.
Medics should make decisions independently of police, “based on the totality of the circumstances,” the report said. It added that medics should feel comfortable intervening when officers are restraining people in dangerous ways.
“We’re not trying to interfere with the work that they’re doing,” Eric Jaeger, an EMS instructor and paramedic who helped develop the guidelines, said of the police. “We’re trying to do our job, which is to protect the health of the patient.”
___ Ryan J. Foley and Martha Bellisle contributed to this report.
___
This story is part of the ongoing investigation, “Lethal Restraint,” led by The Associated Press in partnership with the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and FRONTLINE (PBS) programs. The investigation includes a interactive story, database And the film “Documenting Police Use Of Force.”
___
The Associated Press receives support from the Public Welfare Foundation for reporting focused on criminal justice. This story also received support from the Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights at Columbia University in partnership with Arnold Ventures. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
___
Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips