An influential group of law enforcement leaders is pushing police departments across the U.S. to change how officers use force when they subdue people and to improve training so they avoid 鈥渃onsistent blind spots鈥� that have contributed to civilian deaths.
Calling the use of force 鈥渁 defining issue in policing today,鈥� the Police Executive Research Forum released extensive new guidance it says can reduce the risks of deaths following police restraint. The group credited an ongoing led by The Associated Press for inspiring the reforms.
The AP and its reporting partners created of more than over a decade after officers used tactics meant to subdue people without killing them 鈥� the same category of force that killed .
鈥� spanning better coordination with medical responders, de-escalation tactics and adherence to long-standing safety warnings 鈥� apply to all incidents officers handle.
But the group focused on a particular type of cases that : People in a , or crisis who die after police use physical blows, restraints or weapons like Tasers. The report shifts the focus from blaming those with mental illness and addiction for their own deaths.
鈥淭hese people are not suspects. They are patients,鈥� said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O鈥橦ara, who two years ago took over a department at the center of calls for change after Floyd was killed there in 2020. 鈥淭his is not just about making it safer for a patient. It鈥檚 about increasing safety for everyone.鈥� O鈥橦ara plans to meet with his staff this week to discuss implementing the recommendations.
Deaths that AP identified happened everywhere, affecting people from , though Black people were . In hundreds of cases, officers well-known guidelines for safely restraining people. These kinds of mistakes were part of what pushed the research forum to act.
鈥淓very police chief, sheriff, trainer, officer, and any other person involved in these incidents should take the time to read these principles and put them to use,鈥� the recommendations said. 鈥淭hey can save lives.鈥�
The Police Executive Research Forum, based in Washington, D.C., and led by police chiefs and administrators, has written policy guidelines on Tasers and body cameras at the request of the Justice Department. While the group largely represents big city departments, its guidelines help inform policy and training standards in many agencies and its work has been cited in court decisions and federal investigations.
In June, the group convened about 20 experts to start hashing out recommendations following the AP-led investigation, done 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鈥檚 death, sweeping changes met resistance. A federal package of reforms named in his honor failed to reach President Joe Biden鈥檚 desk.
鈥淚n these situations, police need to know what they can do,鈥� said Chuck Wexler, the research forum鈥檚 executive director. 鈥淏ecause if it doesn鈥檛 go right, the police are going to be held accountable.鈥�
The recommendations sent to hundreds of police leaders Saturday will be used in training programs the research forum operates, Wexler said.
Recognizing a crisis
While officers in about 30% of the deaths AP identified from 2012-2021 used force to protect someone, many more incidents weren鈥檛 imminently dangerous and often involved people suffering a health emergency. Cases like these frequently turned volatile after officers misinterpreted as defiance someone鈥檚 hesitation or inability to follow commands. Escalating to physical force then exacerbated the medical condition.
In , medics and police in Tennessee treated the body movements of a 23-year-old man suffering a seizure as resistance. The mother of sued police and other responders after learning from body-camera video AP unearthed that her son was subjected to more force than she realized.
People in these 鈥渕edical behavior emergencies鈥� appear to be at greater risk of dying when 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 medical crisis to 鈥渃alm down鈥� or 鈥渞elax,鈥� for example, often makes the situation worse, the report said. Police should coordinate with fire, dispatch and medics ahead of time so everyone knows their role.
Avoiding force mistakes
The research forum reiterated and expanded on long-standing safety warnings on physical holds, specifically saying officers should limit when and how long they pin someone face down in what is known as prone position.
Police have been on notice since the 1990s that leaving someone in can dangerously restrict their lungs and heart. AP found police often failed to turn over the person once they were handcuffed. In dozens of cases, officers blew off cries of, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 breathe.鈥�
The research forum said police could save lives by rolling people onto their side as soon as possible, even if they are flailing, and by having at least one officer monitor their health. The group also warned police not to buy misconceptions about prone restraint, including that if someone is talking, they can breathe adequately.
Calling for sedation
The report addressed another finding from AP鈥檚 investigation by recommending that officers should never seek to influence whether medics give someone an injection to calm them down.
at least 94 people died after they were given sedatives and restrained. In more than 15 of those cases, police requested or suggested that emergency medical workers inject sedatives, such as ketamine or midazolam, to temporarily immobilize someone for transport. Experts told the AP that requests from police can pressure medics to use treatments that may be high risk 鈥� especially if a person is held face down 鈥� but not medically necessary.
鈥淕et the shot to calm him down!鈥� a California officer told a paramedic in the 2020 death of a who received midazolam while restrained.
Some departments such as Minneapolis have barred officers from requesting sedation, as does a state law in Colorado. But many others offer little or no guidance to officers, some of whom embrace sedation when they see it work rapidly on combative people.
Medics should make decisions independently of police, 鈥渂ased on the totality of the circumstances,鈥� the report said. It added that medics should feel comfortable intervening when officers are restraining people in dangerous ways.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not trying to interfere with the job they are doing,鈥� Eric Jaeger, an EMS educator and paramedic who helped develop the guidelines, said of police. 鈥淲e are trying to do our job, which is to protect the health of the patient.鈥�
___ Ryan J. Foley and Martha Bellisle contributed to this report.
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This story is part of the ongoing investigation 鈥淟ethal Restraint鈥� led by The Associated Press in collaboration with the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism programs and FRONTLINE (PBS). The investigation includes an , and
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The Associated Press receives support from the Public Welfare Foundation for reporting focused on criminal justice. This story also was supported by Columbia University鈥檚 Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights in conjunction with Arnold Ventures. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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Contact AP鈥檚 global investigative team at [email protected] or
John Seewer And Reese Dunklin, The Associated Press
