A knee firmly pressed against the neck of a man pleading on the ground and on the verge of suffocation. The images of Georges Floyd, kept in this position by Derek Chauvin for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, shocked the world. This use of force, used by the former Minneapolis policeman and fatal to the 46-year-old African American, questions the techniques of immobilization at the neck (neck restraints) by the police. United States. And the revelations of NBC News, Monday, suggest that this question is posed with all the more acuteness in this city of Minnesota.
According to the American media group, the Minneapolis police officers have, since 2015, caused the loss of consciousness of people (mostly men under 40) on 44 occasions using immobilization techniques at the neck. An abnormally high number of faintings, according to experts consulted by NBC News.
The majority of these situations are said to have occurred while a suspect fled on foot or struggled while in police custody. Three out of five people who lost consciousness were black. NBC News also claims that half of the people who were passed out were injured, without being able to say how serious the injuries were.
So much for the numbers. What about the legality of these "strangulations" and their practice? Police in the United States speak of "neck restraints" when an officer uses an arm or leg to compress a person's neck, without putting direct pressure on the airways. But NBC News recalls that in the vast majority of police services, the variety of this immobilization technique is very limited, when it is not simply prohibited.
Unauthorized "special technique"
Derek Chauvin, he chose to control George Floyd on the ground by applying pressure with his knee against his neck. Questioned by NBC News, a dozen police officers and specialists of the police force state without ambiguity: the "particular technique" employed by Derek Chauvin is neither taught nor validated by the police agencies. A Minneapolis city official confirms that such action is prohibited among the local police. The ex-agent involved in the death of George Floyd would therefore have used an unauthorized practice. Or "personalized" (the knee) and diverted an apparently legal technique.
VIDEO. Four police officers sacked after death of black man during arrest
Because according to NBC News, the manual of the Minneapolis police department authorizes the use of strangulation which can lead to loss of consciousness. To be applied in specific cases: characterized aggression, to save lives, if the person presents such a level of resistance that the agent is obliged to control it in this way ... The circumstances of the arrest of Georges Floyd do not correspond - to this stage of the investigation - none of these scenarios…
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Finally, in the United States, the police have generally abandoned this "option" of strangulation for several years, according to Ed Obayashi, lawyer and deputy sheriff in California. This national expert on the use of force puts forward two reasons. The “life threatening potential” inherent in this immobilization technique and the fact that police often misinterpret the resistance of a suspect, who may simply have trouble breathing. The expert insisted: if such use of force is not used with extreme caution, “the probability of serious injury or death increases considerably. "
Has Minneapolis escaped this tendency to turn its back on this risky method? Ed Obayashi believes that this practice of immobilization by the neck seems "common" in this city, and that the policy in the matter seems "dated" and "permissive". It is in this presumed climate that Derek Chauvin, an agent with a sulfurous past, exercised. He is charged with 3rd degree murder (manslaughter) and cruel and dangerous act causing death and was imprisoned. At this point, the ex-cop faces a maximum of 35 years in prison.
Many, starting with the family of Georges Floyd, are demanding that he be charged with intentional homicide. In this case, justice should then prove that Derek Chauvin intended to kill Georges Floyd. In any case, the investigation was enriched with a very important element.
On Monday, the official medical examiner responsible for the autopsy said that George Floyd died "by homicide" because of "pressure on his neck" by the police. A new fact. This same legal expert assured, in his first observations, not to have "physical evidence supporting a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation".
According to the report presented Monday, George Floyd suffered a cardiac and pulmonary arrest because of his immobilization by the police. The doctor lists other important parameters: arteriosclerosis and high blood pressure, intoxication with Fentanyl (opioid) recent use of amphetamines.