Category: Handcuffs

“I CAN’T BREATHE” – how cops accidentally kill, and how to stop it

FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY – CONTENT MAY DISTURB AND OFFEND, VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED.

See bottom of this post for download links to the complete video and printable diagrams.

I give permission for the video and attached documents to be downloaded, played, modified and printed anywhere for free – only for the purpose of education.

TOPICS

00:00 – Intro
03:50 – Excited delirium
05:19 – Why are police involved in the first place if we’re talking about medical issues?
06:12 – Death in custody and sudden unexplained death
07:26 – Monitor your own state of mind when dealing with the patient
08:48 – De-escalation
09:54 – “Super Human Strength”
11:01 – Ability to absorb punishment
11:50 – Pain compliance
12:18 – Pain compliance loop
13:21 – Tasers
13:55 – Positional asphyxiation
14:25 – Do not lay prone for too long
14:55 – “I can’t breathe”
18:07 – Banning pressure – my opinion
19:06 – Examples set by martial artists
19:32 – A personal anecdote
20:12 – Restraint-resistance loop
20:51 – Sudden calm
21:22 – Do not make calmness a condition of your use of force
21:44 – Piling on
22:33 – What we lack in training
22:58 – Minimum force in minimum time
23:34 – Access to risks
24:06 – Caution with handcuffs
24:50 – Biting
25:11 – Position in cell/transport – monitor constantly
25:36 – You are always being recorded
26:31 – You are at the mercy of the world
27:24 – Final thoughts

Download video here

Preventing Death In CustodyDownload

Some excellent feedback from a paramedic in the Reddit thread for this video.

How to prevent death in custody – positional asphyxiation, excited delirium, best practice methods and more [28 minutes]
byu/PaperworkPTSD inProtectAndServe

Text wall incoming: I would like to add some comments here. I am a paramedic in the urban U.S., so I do not know the training or the things that are taught to LEO, but I would offer some alternative perspective. This was a well thought out video, but I would also add some tools/methods that I have used/seen used to help expedite the process.

  1. This was a very thoughtful video, and succinctly emphasizes your position when dealing with psych/overdose/mental health patients in delirium. Which is, in between a rock and a hard place. These people need medical evaluation and intervention, which often Law enforcement is ill equipped to provide. It then becomes a matter of how quickly can you get the ambulance to you to assist. Normally, EMS will not go into active scenes because our defense profile is much less robust than yours. But getting on the radio quickly will ensure that once you have compliance, or even 60-75% compliance, the ambulance is already on the way. Even on your way to the call, if your call notes describe someone who will need an evaluation, just start us. If we get pissy when we get there and its not super serious, thats on us and I hope you dont have that kind of working relationship with your EMS agency, because thats a junk attitude for us to have. Better an easy evaluation and refusal than a cardiac arrest.
  2. There were many clips in this video that show prone positioning, and the continued struggle. OP did a good job of alerting to the cycle of “movement/restraint” that so many of us get into, and how that leads to bad outcomes. If you have to prone someone, then do that, but if the ambulance is coming, there are also safer ways to restrain once we get onscene. The primary intervention is sedation. We all want that person to stop thrashing, so we have to get our drugs onboard. However, once we get there, you now have force multipliers. Do not shy away from using us as help to restrain while the medication takes effect. Limb joint restraint, waist and shoulder control can all be had while prone if need be, and take pressure off the chest. And to be clear, even pressure on the lower back where the abdomen would be can cause asphyxiation, by not allowing proper expansion of the diaphragm.
  3. Please continue to be observant. Many times, once EMS arrives on scene, the police tend to lower their security posture because “EMS is onscene” and it is a medical patient. But I have been stabbed by a patient with APD standing next to her because they were talking to themselves while I was doing my thing. Anyone who needed EMS and is hyperactive is by definition unstable. Please be ready to jump back into the fight. We may also have to use you as our own force multipliers.
  4. The pathophysiology of these patients is unpredictable. The reason why these people suddenly arrest with seemingly no pressure is because of whats happening inside the body. Extremely simplified basically, the drugs/psychosis/etc are causing an unregulated adrenaline dump, giving them their super strength, or their resistance to control techniques and the like. Once their body uses up all of their adrenaline, they’re going to arrest. Our sedation medications add onto that effect, especially if we have to give a double dose because of their extreme adrenaline dump. Which means that predicting when they stop fighting is a nonstarter. Once you go hands on, at any point in time, they may run out of energy and go into arrest, ems or no ems assistance. Look for the signs, and act appropriately.
  5. Thank you OP for not saying that Ketamine from paramedics kills these people.

Sorry for the long wall, I’ve been a paramedic for 11 years-ish now and teach both LEO/EMS team patient control, and basic resuscitation to the police I work with. You guys got the short end of the stick in dealing with these patients, and I dont want any of these cases to happen to you guys.

DOWNLOAD GRAPHICS

Compounding risk factors of death in custodyDownload
Pain Compliance LoopDownload

Pressure-resistance loopDownload
Death in custody – Combined chartDownload

An incomplete list of references:

Lethal Restraint – An extensive investigation by Associated Press, documenting police use of force:
https://apnews.com/projects/investigation-police-use-of-force

14 August 2022
Salt Lake City, USA
35YO male deceased
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc1nFY0iUo8

19 June 2021
Teplice, Czech Republic
46YO male deceased
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Stanislav_Tom%C3%A1%C5%A1

10 November 2022
Springfield, USA
44YO male deceased
https://wtop.com/virginia/2022/12/fairfax-co-police-release-bodycam-footage-after-man-dies-in-custody/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-UShHjqXHI

10 August 2016
Dallas, USA
32YO male deceased

31 March 2020
Los Angeles County, USA
38YO male deceased
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/09/us/california-settlement-edward-bronstein-death-police.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybWJe6G5guc

13 April 2022
Tucson, USA
34YO male deceased – 9 days after incident
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty2L435PDis

30 June 2024
Milwaukee, USA
43YO male deceased
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/02/us/dvontaye-mitchell-milwaukee-autopsy-report/index.html

15 August 2020
Sonoma County, USA
Male deceased
http://nixle.us/C547W

18 March 2012
Sydney, Australia
21YO male deceased
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Beto_Laudisio

29 August 2024
Man tried to rob a BJJ Black Belt in Auckland, NZ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBa5-FMWeWg

2015
26YO male deceased
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2018/jul/16/i-cant-breathe-footage-shows-david-dungays-death-in-custody-video

2018 paper – Sudden deaths from positional asphyxia
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6023692/figure/F2/

8 October 2021
Altoona, USA
43YO male deceased
https://apnews.com/projects/investigation-police-use-of-force/event/demetrio-jackson-cc53e451-a7d4-58e6-80ec-c1aa7ed8bb35/

Milwaukee, USA
28YO male
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2021/05/11/subject-viral-arrest-video-2018-sues-milwaukee-police-officers/5025378001/

Other sources:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dvontaye-mitchell-death-milwaukee-hotel-hyatt-aimbridge-hospitality-security-guards

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/19/us/mario-gonzalez-death-california-officers-charged/index.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/frank-tyson-toledo-police-body-cam-video-handcuffed-facedown-bar-floor

https://abcnews.go.com/US/7-california-highway-patrol-officers-charged-involuntary-manslaughter/story?id=98217611

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/3-former-mississippi-police-officers-indicted-death-man-custody-rcna86161

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/paramedic-gets-5-years-in-prison-for-elijah-mcclains-death-in-rare-case-against-medical-responders

https://www.cpr.org/2023/12/22/elijah-mcclain-trial-of-paramedics-jury-verdict

https://abcnews.go.com/US/7-california-highway-patrol-officers-charged-involuntary-manslaughter/story?id=98217611

https://myfox8.com/news/north-carolina/winston-salem/charges-against-former-nurse-connected-to-john-neville-case-dismissed-at-familys-request-district-attorney-says

The limits of pain compliance

Click image or click here to watch video

Pain compliance is quite literally the use of pain as a method to achieve compliance, and discourage resistance and aggressive behaviour. It’s an integral part of any police use of force continuum policies. However, its effectiveness varies greatly depending on the individual’s pain tolerance, mental state, and the intensity of the situation.

Individuals under the influence of drugs, experiencing a mental health crisis, or in a state of excited delirium might not respond as expected to pain compliance techniques. Adrenaline and other physiological factors can significantly diminish pain perception, leading to less effectiveness in gaining compliance and potentially escalating the situation to more extreme uses of force.

Pain compliance is not a substitute for physical control. It should not be seen as a primary strategy but rather a part of a broader set of tactics aimed at safely controlling and detaining individuals.

It’s crucial for law enforcement to have a clear objective when employing pain compliance and to be prepared to shift tactics if it’s not effective.

Continuous application of pain without gaining control can be perceived as excessive and lead to public scrutiny and distrust. In extreme cases, it can lead to serious injury and death, particularly when the subject is of poor health.

Training, skills, fitness and teamwork are the only answer.

The public’s perception of pain compliance is increasingly critical. With widespread access to information and a growing emphasis on police accountability, the use of force is under more scrutiny than ever. Law enforcement agencies need to ensure their personnel are well-trained in a variety of techniques, understand the implications of their actions, and are capable of making judicious decisions in the heat of the moment.

In conclusion, while pain compliance can be a part of law enforcement’s toolkit, it should be used judiciously and in conjunction with other tactics aimed at safely and efficiently resolving confrontations. Continuous training, public engagement, and a commitment to ethical practices are vital in maintaining public trust and ensuring the safety of both officers and those they serve.

The Norway Incident: Cop charged with assault after failing to control on the ground

Click image above or here to watch video

Bystanders and the court of public opinion

The failure of wristlocks and armbar takedowns

News coverage of the incident from Norway:

On October 30, Kevin Simensen, a 26-year-old man, was subjected to violence by the police. Initially, no one believed his account, but new surveillance footage has emerged that supports his claims.

The footage shows a police officer in his 30s repeatedly striking Simensen outside a gas station in Kongsberg. This video has gained significant attention recently. TV2 has also obtained another video that shows what happened immediately after the first surveillance footage. Simensen believes this second video was taken after he was pepper-sprayed and before his friend Kristian was hit with a baton.

Due to the surveillance footage, the case has taken a turn. The officer has been charged with violence and gross negligence in the line of duty. The police chief, Ole Sæverud, stated that the charged officer has not been in active duty since the video came to light.

Both Simensen and his friend Kristian Teigen appreciate the media attention the case is getting. They believe it’s crucial for people to realize that such incidents do happen in Norway. Teigen also mentioned that the police deleted some of the footage they had initially captured.

Simensen, who has been dealing with PTSD since the incident, is slowly reintegrating into society. He had previously served with NATO in the Mediterranean for six months.

The officer’s lawyer, Gry Schrøder Berger, stated that the video doesn’t show the entire sequence of events and that her client is currently struggling emotionally.

The case is now pending court evaluation.

https://www.tv2.no/nyheter/innenriks/ny-video-av-politivolden-foler-meg-makteslos/15697249/

The Buskerud District Court ruled that the officer’s use of force against Kevin Simensen was lawful. The officer had been accused of gross bodily harm after forcibly restraining Simensen, who was pepper-sprayed and hit multiple times with both a baton and a fist.

The ruling was not unanimous; one of the judges dissented, arguing that the officer’s actions were not in line with the police law’s guidelines on the use of force. The court’s majority opinion emphasized that Simensen did not cease resisting arrest and that the officer had little time to consider alternative actions.

The Special Unit for Police Affairs, which had been prosecuting the case, stated that they would review the court’s reasoning before deciding on whether to appeal. Kevin Simensen and his legal team expressed disappointment with the verdict, stating that it could further erode public trust in the legal system.

Ole Sæverud, the Police Chief in Kongsberg, has not yet commented on whether the acquitted officer will return to duty. He mentioned that the officer is currently suspended and that they would need to thoroughly review the verdict before making any decisions.

https://www.tv2.no/nyheter/innenriks/politimann-frikjent-i-kongsberg-saken/15877423/

Police officer shows how skills and fitness prevent injuries during arrest

This police officer demonstrates how fighting skills – grappling skills in particular – and physical strength and fitness translate to less harm for both suspects and officers in the real world.

The officer uses a body lock lift and takes him to the ground carefully, without slamming the head, then applies pressure and controls the suspect on the ground before applying handcuffs.

Note that the officer kneels on the head area for a moment during cuffing – this does not cause any harm to the suspect as no pressure is applied to the neck, and it is used for only a short time in transition.

The suspect does not appear to have any injuries, and does not appear to be suffering any pain or discomfort when he stands up.

No pepper spray, no batons, no Taser, no strikes, no gun.

Methods of control comparison – police vs MMA fighter Matt Serra

The methods used by police in this example are typical of those used by people who have very little grappling experience – holding wrists and pressing down on the head without controlling the body. Two police hold the man who has been arrested for possession of a knife in a public place, while a crowd gathers which becomes a safety concern for the officers. Although the methods used are not causing harm (the suspect is lying on his side rather than face down, most of the officer’s weight is on his own feet and the knee is pressed into the head rather than neck), the knee on the head resembles the George Floyd incident which could quickly incite the crowd to intervene.

It is very likely the man was actively resisting and attempting to escape custody before this video clip starts, however it would not make sense to continue once he saw that a crowd had gathered and was filming. Playing the victim only makes sense, whether it is right or wrong. This video resulted in the police officer being suspended.

Matt Serra, shown in the second video restraining a man who had just threatened restaurant staff and attempted to punch him, sits in the mount position which has the man immobilised. Serra controls the wrists only to prevent him from grabbing and hitting, not as the primary method of control. It also allows the man to breathe and causes very little discomfort.