Police lament loss of neck holds. ‘No one wants us to beat someone into submission’
Washington state law enforcement officers cannot use neck restraints after a new law became effective July 25, and they are worried about the ramifications.
The state Legislature passed House Bill 1054, which, among other things, bans the use neck restraints.
“A peace officer may not use a chokehold or neck restraint on another person in the course of his or her duties as a peace officer,” the bill said.
Last year, Pierce County law enforcement agencies told The News Tribune that some neck restraints, particularly the “carotid hold,” are sometimes useful to de-escalate situations.
The hold is different from a chokehold, which puts pressure on the windpipe, compressing the airway and cutting off oxygen to the lungs. A chokehold restricts breathing and can ultimately end in death.
In the correct use of the carotid hold, vascular neck restraint — or “VNR,” as police say — the officer standing behind a person would place their arm around the person’s neck but keep the trachea in the crook of the elbow. The windpipe is is protected, and the officer compresses their arm on the sides of the neck. The hold limits blood flow to the brain, causing the person to lose consciousness.
Rep. Jesse Johnson of Federal Way sponsored the bill. The bill initially banned only chokeholds, but Johnson said he found that police departments don’t consistently train the vascular neck restraint.
“It can easily lead to a chokehold,” he told The News Tribune. “We have a lot of negative impacts for Black and brown people.”
The Washington State Law Enforcement Academy, where all recruits statewide are taught, hasn’t included neck restraints as part of the standard curriculum since the 1980s. Before HB 1054 went into effect, agencies could have chosen to send their recruits to an additional 12-hour class that taught officers how to use a vascular neck restraint.
The new state law also added that an officer may use deadly force in cases of imminent danger to the officer, another person or the perpetrator. Departments have interpreted that to mean the neck restraint could be used in life-threatening situations.
Before the state law was implemented, at least seven of Pierce County’s 19 police agencies allowed police officers to use vascular neck restraints: the Sheriff’s Department, Lakewood, Puyallup, Bonney Lake, Milton, Buckley and Pierce Transit.
Pierce County Sheriff’s Department reported using the vascular neck restraint more than any other department in the county, according to The News Tribune analysis. From January 2016 to July 2019, deputies used 330 vascular neck restraints.
Sgt. Darren Moss said recently the department will abide by the law and ban the use of the vascular neck restraints outside of a deadly force situation. New hires are shown the hold to know what is not allowed, but not trained in using it.
Stripping the department of using neck restraints removes a tool from deputies’ toolbox, he said.
In place of vascular neck restraints, Moss said, deputies will have to use pepper spray, batons and stun guns if situations become violent.
“No one wants us to beat someone into submission, and the VNR means we would have to use force,” he said. “The longer we fight, the more violent the tactics are because we are getting closer to deadly force.”
Johnson agreed that the neck hold is a lost tool in an officer’s toolbelt, but said there are not enough positive outcomes of the hold for it to be worth keeping.
“A Taser is less harmful, and in 21st century policing, I don’t see a neck restraint as something worth doing,” he said.
Some in law enforcement have been supportive. The Washington Fraternal Order of Police endorsed the house bill in February.
“We recognize the need to change law enforcement procedures to meet our communities’ expectations and strengthen trust with those we serve,” WAFOP President Marco Monteblanco said in a press release.
Tacoma changed its policy in 2020 when the department implemented the national campaign ‘8 Can’t Wait” recommendations, spokesperson Wendy Haddow said. The department did not teach the tactic but it was not expressly banned until 2020. Neck restraints are prohibited by policy except where deadly force is permitted.
Puyallup Captain Jason Visnaw said the department banned all neck restraints after the governor signed the bill into law.
Vascular neck restraints are a valid, effective tool and officers will have to find alternatives, Lakewood Police Chief Mike Zaro said.
“Any other tool would be used more,” Zaro told The News Tribune. “Whether it be an impact weapon or punches and strikes, it depends on the scenario.”
He is worried about future changes to policing, saying politics is going to create friction in law enforcement. Johnson said the legislature will make changes to the law in the next session if needed.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department will continue to make arrests if necessary and make decisions on what tactics to use.
“VNRs, that’s not our number one tool. Our number one tool is our brain. We still have that,” Moss said. “A lot of deputies are upset we lost it, but we will abide by the law and figure out how to apprehend people breaking the law without the VNR.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
