Raleigh Police Department bans chokeholds, adopts all ’8 Can’t Wait’ reforms

The Raleigh Police Department has banned chokeholds and strangleholds, Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin announced on social media Tuesday night.

The Police Department already did not use knee restraints like the kind that led to George Floyd’s death, Chief Cassandra-Deck-Brown told the Raleigh City Council earlier in the day.

Floyd’s death after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck May 25 has sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and calls for reform in law-enforcement agencies’ use-of-force policies.

“The type of force used against George Floyd — knee to neck — is not used in Raleigh,” Deck-Brown said. “This type of force is deadly, and the chokehold, or lateral vascular neck restraint, is a significant use of force.”

Chokeholds and strangleholds are listed as a deadly use of force and were already discouraged in the Police Department’s policies, she said.

Raleigh’s policy changes, made in response to the police-reform organization Campaign Zero’s “8 Can’t Wait” project, have not satisfied many of the protesters who have marched in the streets of Downtown Raleigh the past 11 nights.

More than 100 people gathered outside Baldwin’s apartment Wednesday night chanting, “Hey hey, ho ho, Mary-Ann has got to go!”

Protesters said they are upset that police and law enforcement officers launched tear gas at them May 30 and May 31. They are also concerned that a large chunk of the city’s budget is allocated for policing.

Since Floyd’s death, “defund the police” and “abolish the police” have become widespread slogans.

‘This is just the first step’

Baldwin joined other North Carolina mayors last week in pledging to examine use-of-force policies.

The N.C. Department of Public Safety has also called on the law-enforcement agencies it oversees, including the State Bureau of Investigation and State Highway Patrol, to review their policies.

Raleigh already meets five of the eight recommendations from Campaign Zero, the police chief has said. That includes a requirement that officers intervene if they see other officers using excessive force.

Effective Tuesday, police will implement the other three recommendations, Baldwin wrote on Twitter.

In addition to banning chokeholds and strangleholds, Raleigh will require officers to try to de-escalate situations and prohibit shooting at moving vehicles.

“We will continue to evaluate policy,” Baldwin said. “We must and we will ensure that we are better. Reform starts with us, with the chief of police in an organization.”

A newly created police advisory board will review the Police Department’s policies and procedures. About 150 people have applied to be on the seven-member board, Baldwin said last week.

“This is just a first step. We know we have a lot of work to do,” she said.

City Council to hire an outside investigator to look into protest response

The City Council approved a request from the police chief and City Manager Ruffin L. Hall to hire independent law enforcement experts to review the Police Department’s response to the protests, Baldwin said Tuesday on Twitter.

Police in riot gear launched tear gas and sponge grenades at protesters and journalists on the first two nights of local protests. Some protesters threw rocks, fireworks and water bottles at police. Downtown windows were smashed, and some businesses were looted. The mayor lifted a weeklong curfew Monday after protests in the city grew less tense.

Dozens of speakers at a virtual City Council meeting last week called on Baldwin and Deck-Brown to resign.

The mayor said that she will not resign and that the city supports the chief.

Staff writers Carli Brosseau, Ben Sessoms and Ashad Hajela contributed to this report.

This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 9:52 AM.