AGENDA REPORT - Laserfiche WebLink

incorporates six training days per year into a patrol officer's work schedule. During this training time, officers are exposed to reality-based training scenarios designed to encourage de-escalation. Officers are evaluated and critiqued on their ability to identify de-escalation opportunities and to properly employ de-escalation strategies. Scenarios also incorporate an officer's duty to intercede when another officer uses excessive force. In addition to training, there are practices which exceed the policy manual's standards. The department's use of force reporting and review process is an example of this: It is far more comprehensive in practice than what is outlined in the policy manual. Updating the policy manual to reflect the more comprehensive procedures already in place is a single step which may serve to further ensure the community that these processes are in place. Some recent recommendations are already in place by practice and others provide an opportunity to improve our policy to better align with the expectations of the community. While some recommendations may sound practical, in practice they are either unrealistic or pose serious risks to the safety of officers and the public. Following is the police department's evaluation of eight key recommendations for policy change. 1. Chokeholds and Strangleholds Chokeholds and strangleholds are control techniques which restrict the airway by compressing the trachea. These holds have been banned by nearly all police departments since the 1990s. Controversially categorized as a chokehold is the carotid restraint which applies pressure to the carotid artery to briefly incapacitate suspects without affecting their ability to breathe. Application of the carotid restraint requires training and competency to be done properly. A successful application of the hold will cause a resisting or combative suspect to lose consciousness for a few seconds. This allows officers just enough time to place the suspect in handcuffs which reduces the likelihood of injury to officers and the suspect and reduces the likelihood of a prolonged altercation in which an escalation of force may be required. Such escalations are more likely to cause a suspect to be seriously injured from other force options such as baton strikes, less-than-lethal ammunition, or a canine bite. Until recently, the carotid restraint was instructed in California police academies and individual departments chose if, and how, to allow its use through policy. The police department allowed officers specifically trained in its use to apply the carotid restraint in situations when it was reasonable to overcome resistance. During department training, officers were trained to limit use of the carotid restraint to situations where alternative control holds appeared ineffective. On June 5, 2020, California's Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) decertified the carotid restraint and ceased its instruction in police academies. Within days, the Pleasanton Police Department suspended use of the carotid restraint and amended its policy to state "The carotid restraint control hold is not authorized." Page 8 of 17