Category: OC spray

“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.

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.

Cop stabbed in back, partner slow to respond

OC spray and Taser were used to take the man into custody following this. The police officer suffered a 6cm wound and survived.

An ambush gives the attacker initiative. They have had time to mentally and tactically prepare for the situation. The defender may not be psychologically prepared or have any kind of plan, and is at minimum a few seconds behind the attacker to even understand what is happening.

The cop who stood there for a few seconds either did not understand what was happening or was in a kind of denial for some time. This is not a conscious decision made while observing the situation. It is likely a result of inadequate training.

OC spray, Taser, Baton ineffective against drug affected man

Reluctant to go hands-on, police use their baton, then Taser which fails multiple times. One police officer attempts to knock over the man by rushing at him from behind but ultimately loses control as he stands up. The Taser is used again, then OC spray before the Taser is used once more before the man is taken into custody.

All of the tools police used in this instance depend on pain compliance, apart from the Taser which incapacitates for mere seconds IF the two prongs make contact correctly and in the correct positions on the body. Physical control with grappling techniques may have resulted in a faster and safer arrest, however these officers either lack those skills or were not willing to go hands-on.

Cops fail to control man who is passively resisting

These cops first attempt to control the man by grabbing the wrists, just as they have been trained to do. The suspect passively resists, denying control. The cop then moves to the schoolyard headlock which is similarly effective. OC spray is then used which also apparently does not work. A second man begins to intervene. Video ends with no resolution.

Police restrain mentally ill man, use baton and OC spray without justification

Police in the state of Victoria, Australia use pain compliance to handcuff a mentally ill pensioner.

The police officers used a baton and OC spray to achieve pain compliance as they were unable to handcuff the man by physically controlling him, perhaps due to lack of skill and/or malicious intent. Once he is handcuffed, a garden hose is used to decontaminate the man of OC spray, and this action has been interpreted by the public simply as further means to humiliate the man. An officer pulling out his personal phone to film the event only makes it look worse.