Attorney general sends new rules
to police restricting chokeholds

By: Barchenger
and Steve Janosli
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... New Jersey police officers are prohibited from suing chokeholds and neck restraints except when deadly force is necessary, the state ordered on Friday, [06/05/2020] putting more explicit limits on cops' use of force in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minnesota.
..... New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal also reminded local departments that the media has a right to cover protests and rallies across the sate and should be allowed to report without "undue influence," Earlier this week. [06/02/2020] Grewal intervened after the arrest of an Asbury Park Press reporter to order charges against the reporter would be dropped.
.... Grewal's guidance on police holds follows Floyd's May 25 [2020] death, which has touched off worldwide protest against police brutality as well as condemnations from New Jersey law enforcement. Floyd, a black man, died after white Minneapolis officers Derek Chauvin held him on the ground by placing a knee on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
..... Grewal said earlier this week [06/02/2020] he would update his office's two-decade old sue of force policy, but the issued Friday's [06/05/2020] two-page letter to police departments in the interim. the guidance follows calls form leaders around the country to update police policies, and a report by NorthJersey.com and the USA Today Network Atlantic group that found the state's 20-year-old policy did not explicitly address neck holds.
..... Some advocacy groups say those holds should be banned entirely because they can be fatal. Several police departments across the state already define chokeholds as deadly uses of force, akin to using a gun, that should only be used by police when someone's life is in danger. Other departments' policies weren't as clear, the network found.
..... "I am still relying form the footage of George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis," Grewal's memo read. "Now mor than ever, we must redouble our commitment to building trust between law enforcement and the people we serve, especially those from historically marginalized communities." Chauvis, the officer who pressed his knee into Floyd's neck, was fired and has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers who were on the scene have also been charged.
..... Police across New Jersey are trained that the neck is a vulnerable areas and that there is risk of suffocation form putting pressure on the neck.
..... Grewal's new guidance says police across the state are not permitted to perform chokeholds, which cut off a person's oxygen, neck restraints that tactics on any flow of blood, "or any similar tactics on any individual, except in the very limited situations when deadly force is necessary to address an imminent threat to life."
..... Putting the rules in writing makes it clear and binding for law enforcement across the state as Grewal works to update the broader policy, said Richard Rivera, a former West New York officer and expect in police internal affairs.
..... "It's institutionally known this is not what you do, Rivera said. "It's not taught, it's not trained."
..... Grewal's announcement matters "because it demonstrates he understands this evolves very quickly and police officers and chiefs are looking for guidance," Rivera said. "typically those chiefs don't make that move without the attorney general."
..... Past legal rulings also likely deter officers form aiming for the neck with either their hands or knees, said Brian Higgings, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan and former chief of the Bergen County Police Department.
..... Still, he said, it was prudent to address the holds in a formal policy.
..... "Not everything has to be written in a guidelines," Higgins said. "But in light of what we all see right now, it's probably necessary."
..... The attorney general has also said he supports the licensing of police and will soon roll out a statewide program to gather use-of-force data.

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