Police have long known the dangers of holding people in prone restraint. So why do so many keep dying?

Police have long known the dangers of holding people in prone restraint. So why do so many keep dying?

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As far back as the 1990s, medical experts and law enforcement officials have been aware of the dangers of prone restraint. A number of organizations and law enforcement agencies, including the US Department of Justice, the Chicago police department and the New Orleans police department, warned officers of these dangers and advised them on how to minimize risks.

Many training manuals have since been updated to address the risks of prone restraint and the importance of using the recovery position. Ohio state police officers are forbidden from using prone restraint. A Nevada law forbids the practice. In California, a law that became effective in 2022, AB 490, bans any maneuvers that put people at risk of being unable to breathe due to the position of their body, or positional asphyxia, a common cause of death in prone restraint cases.

But a new review of law enforcement data shows that, despite growing awareness of the dangers of prone restraint, in California the problem is pervasive. After the passage of AB 71, in 2015, California began tracking data about when people died after police use of force. Between 2016 and 2022, at least 22 people have died in the state after being restrained stomach-down by law enforcement officers, according to a new analysis of currently available state use-of-force data by the California Reporting Project, the California Newsroom and the Guardian. Our examination also included police reports, death investigations, district attorney reviews, body-worn camera footage, 911 calls and lawsuits.

  • sleepyTonia
    3·
    9 months ago

    I mean, if they’re using web-based proxies which could help a three letter agency get to them… Yeah? Assuming they’re discussing and sharing crap that’s illegal enough to warrant using the TOR network. Why did that first guy get so damn offended? We basically get a weekly video of cops doing stupid shit with their guns, breaking the law left and right and… I’m supposed to think that an organisation which goes out of its way to hire and undertrain dumb bullies is filled with people who would understand and follow the best network security practices?

    There’s obviously going to be a damn difference in technical knowledge between your average “beat up the brown guy” crooked cops and your average cyber crime cops. I’m sure they all saw some “online training” powerpoint presentation telling them to not stick random flash drives in their computers and to not use public wifi hotspots, but beyond that?..

    So yes, I’m still surprised to learn that there’s apparently some actual .onion forum for regular crooked cops out there. I would’ve figured that at most they’d use some signal group chat along with a VPN. Not that I ever gave it a thought, honestly. It’s literally worse than would’ve ever thought. Crooked cops are that self-aware and cover their tracks better than I would’ve thought.

    • prole@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      3·
      9 months ago

      Yeah but they’re the cops. They don’t police themselves, and the feds won’t ever do anything.

      • sleepyTonia
        1·
        9 months ago

        Yeah, probably never. Which does make it weird that they’re taking the trouble to use the TOR network at all… But hey. I’ll always appreciate any thorn in the way of fascists.