and REESE DUNKLIN
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 “consistent blind spots” that have contributed to civilian deaths.
Calling the use of force “a defining issue in policing today,” 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 investigation led by The Associated Press for inspiring the reforms.
The AP and its reporting partners created a database
1,000 deaths over a decade after officers used tactics meant to subdue people without killing them — the same category of force that killed George Floyd.
The research forum’s recommendations — spanning better coordination with medical responders, de-escalation tactics and adherence to long-standing safety warnings — apply to all incidents officers handle.
But the group focused on a particular type of case that AP’s investigation repeatedly documented: People in a medical, mental or drug crisis who die after police use physical blows, restraints or weapons like Tasers. The group’s report shifts the focus from blaming those with mental illness and addiction for their own deaths.