• Vascular neck restraints have been used for many centuries as martial arts techniques.
• It is effective and supposedly safe and therefore its use was taught also to the cops during their training years.
• But increasingly, they have been implicated in the custody deaths of some criminals and also on the streets when the police officer was trying to control a combative person.

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The latter happened recently in the case of George Floyd who lost his life when cop Derek Chauvin used this technique on him for almost 8 minutes.

What are vascular neck restraints?

Vascular neck restraints are martial arts techniques in which an individual uses his hands or any other part of his body to press on the carotids of the opposite person to render him dizzy and later unconscious.

The aim is to gain control over him during the aggression. The blood supply to the brain is hampered leading to unconsciousness. Hence the term ‘vascular’. It is also called chokeholds or ‘strangleholds’.

In the case of the late George Floyd, the cop Derek Chauvin had used his knee to cause a compression of the carotid vessels of the victim.

But he had kept it pressed for too long and hard. He did not release it even when George kept telling him that he is finding it difficult to breathe. That led to his lowered blood pressure and the stoppage of his heart. It ultimately killed him.

The ill effects of this technique

The technique though effective comes with its share of problems. It is no doubt a valuable control technique for criminals but is also inherently dangerous and potentially fatal.

Researcher Dr. Jamie Mitchell has earlier said of his study:

“With the majority of subjects [in the study] rendered unconscious and, importantly, [with] no serious adverse events in our subjects, we conclude that VNR is a safe and effective force intervention,”

But he had admitted that the technique could have problems in those who are elderly and/or unhealthy. But the fact that the method of restraining is by cutting off the blood supply to the brain, itself is enough to imply that there could be some side effects if used in weak individuals, in the older population, or wrongly, or for too long.

In the history of US law enforcement, there is documentation of many cases of deaths following this technique. The same happened in the recent case when Derek used the method on the intoxicated George Floyd.

It is clear that the technique is not totally safe and should be used with caution keeping a check on the individual’s condition periodically.

The aftermath of the death of George Floyd

The police force of the majority of the states of the USA has banned vascular neck restraints. But it still continues to be a practice in Florida.

The San Diego Police Department has issued orders that the practice would end with immediate effect in its territory. No police officer in its jurisdiction would utilize this technique to bring an individual under control during combat.

San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit, Mayor Kevin Faulconer, City Council President Georgette Gomez, Councilwoman Monica Montgomery, and other community leaders announced this change in police protocols.

Mayor Kevin said:

“We are watching the hurt and pain so many people are expressing after the tragic death of George Floyd. And we are committed to taking new actions to make sure something like this doesn’t happen in San Diego. That starts today with the police chief’s decision to immediately stop this particular restraint that has led to so much concern and frustration by many in our minority communities.”