Wednesday, September, 15, 2021
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Justice Department limits chokeholds and no-knock raids

The new policy follows high-profile deaths caused by the controversial practices.

Tamika Palmer, center, the mother of Breonna Taylor, leads a march through the streets of downtown Louisville, Ky., on the one-year anniversary of her death in March 2021. (Timothy D. Easley/AP)

WASHINGTON (CN) — The U.S. Department of Justice announced new limits on chokeholds and "no-knock" warrants by federal law enforcement on Tuesday, a response to a series of controversial deaths attributed to the practices.

Under the new policy, federal agents may not use chokeholds or the carotid restraint technique to subdue suspects unless under threat by deadly force. Similarly, agents will be prohibited from conducting raids without knocking and announcing their presence, unless there is an imminent threat of violence.

“Building trust and confidence between law enforcement and the public we serve is central to our mission at the Justice Department,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “The limitations implemented today on the use of ‘chokeholds,’ ‘carotid restraints’ and ‘no-knock’ warrants, combined with our recent expansion of body-worn cameras to DOJ’s federal agents, are among the important steps the department is taking to improve law enforcement safety and accountability.”

Chokeholds and carotid restraints have long been techniques used by law enforcement to detain a suspect. Chokeholds restrict a person’s airway while a carotid restraint refers to restricting blood flow to a person’s brain.

Last year, Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, while kneeling on his neck, a type of carotid restraint. Floyd’s death prompted protests around the nation and discussions over law enforcement use-of-force.

The Justice Department’s new policy also limits no-knock entries unless the federal agents believe knocking and announcing their presence would “create an imminent threat of physical violence to the agent or another person.”

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“Because of the risk posed to both law enforcement and civilians during the execution of no knock warrants, it is important that this authority be exercised only in the most compelling circumstances,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco wrote in a memo to the directors of various federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The policy only allows such no-knock entries if an agent obtains approval from “a federal prosecutor as well as the agent’s law enforcement component.”

No-knock warrants gained notoriety last year when plainclothes police officers in Louisville, Kentucky, raided the apartment of Breonna Taylor. When her boyfriend, fearing criminal intruders, fired a warning shot, police shot Taylor multiple times. An inquiry revealed Taylor and her boyfriend were never under investigation and police raided the wrong home.

Although the memo announcing the new policy does not specifically address the recent tragedies involving chokeholds or no-knock raids, Monaco did acknowledge law enforcement around the nation are “reexamining the way it engages with individuals who come in contact with the criminal justice system.”

In a statement, Monaco said, “As members of federal law enforcement, we have a shared obligation to lead by example in a way that engenders the trust and confidence of the communities we serve.”

“It is essential that law enforcement across the Department of Justice adhere to a single set of standards when it comes to ‘chokeholds,’ ‘carotid restraints’ and ‘no-knock’ entries,” she added. “This new policy does just that and limits the circumstances in which these techniques can be used.”

The new policy only applies to federal law enforcement agencies, but several cities and states have recently banned the use of chokeholds. A recent Washington Post survey found 32 of the nation’s largest police departments now have bans against neck restraints.

In June, the Democrat-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would ban chokeholds nationwide. The evenly divided U.S. Senate has yet to take up the bill.

Follow Alex Pickett on Twitter

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