Last year, New York City introduced the “Diaphragm Law” that held police officers personally and criminally liable for making contact with a suspect’s diaphragm during the course of an arrest. Instead of keeping New Yorkers safer, it had the opposite effect in two significant ways: 1) NYPD officers were highly discouraged from taking criminals into custody, and 2) when they did decide to take someone into custody, they would opt for higher levels of force (taser/baton/lethal) since the non-violent control positions like the mount or side control had been explicitly banned. Well, after an 11-month legal battle, New York Supreme Court Justice, Laurence Love deemed the law “unconstitutionally vague” and it has since been struck down. There is no doubt that law enforcement agencies across the country have a lot of room for improvement, particularly when it comes to use of force, but eliminating non-violent positions of control that are widely known to be safe and effective was one huge step in the wrong direction.
LEOs, when you’re ready, go to http://www.GracieUniversity.com/GST
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