Assemblyman Gloria to co-author chokehold ban for California

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Assemblyman Todd Gloria, D-San Diego, announced Monday that he is co-authoring legislation to ban California law enforcement's use of the carotid restraint.

"The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis demands that we review and revisit how police officers operate and the way they interact with the public,'' Gloria said. "Ending the use of the carotid restraint is in the best interest of public safety and public trust. I am grateful to all those who have been on the front lines of this fight, such as the Racial Justice Coalition of San Diego, (which) spearheaded this initiative locally and got it done. We will do the same (across) California.''

AB 1196 would create a "uniform statewide policy'' eliminating the use of the disputed restraint technique, according to its authors. While police departments in several major California urban centers, including San Diego County and San Francisco, already have done away with the practice, a statewide policy is needed, according to Gloria.

The hold, a commonly used police technique, "can have long-term medical impacts well after an individual's interaction with law enforcement,'' a statement from Gloria's office said. Such problems can occur if the hold is improperly applied or due to an individual's physical disposition. In both cases, the move can be lethal or potentially lead to irreversible brain damage.

The bill, principally authored by Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Los Angeles, was formally introduced at a news conference Monday in Sacramento.

Gov. Gavin Newsom also has called for an end to the much-maligned detainment method.

"We cannot see the kinds of techniques that tragically and ironically we train,'' Newsom said. "I own this. We own this. Across this country we train techniques on strangleholds that put people's lives at risk. Now, we can argue that these are used as exceptions, but at the end of the day, a carotid hold that literally is designed to stop people's blood from flowing into their brain? That has no place any longer in 21st century practices and policing.''

Last week, law enforcement agencies in all San Diego-area municipalities announced that they were halting their use of the carotid restraint.