Chokeholds, neck restraints may be banned in WA. How often do Tri-Cities police use them?

A police neck restraint used by Tri-Cities agencies to subdue suspects would be banned if a bill under debate in the Washington Legislature becomes laws.

House Bill 1054 would put an end to “vascular neck restraints” — a use of force that officers in Richland, Pasco and Kennewick still use to some degree, though rarely.

And local officials are clear to draw distinction between chokeholds, which stop people from breathing, and vascular neck restraints, which they say doesn’t stop a suspect from drawing a breath.

“We teach our officers to stay clear of the throat,” said Pasco police Capt. Bill Parramore. “The entire time the person can breathe. I’ve had the vascular neck restraint applied to me.”

Pasco allows vascular holds as a last resort, using the technique during five arrests in 2020. But it’s the only department of the three to ban chokeholds altogether.

House Bill 1054 would prohibit them for all police agencies.

Kennewick police treat both types of holds the same, authorizing them only when defending themselves or others from “death or physical harm.”

Richland officers also are allowed chokeholds in deadly force situations.

And while no one has died from the controversial maneuvers, Tri-Cities-based Black Lives Matter groups and others continue to call for local departments to ban them.

Neck hold restrictions are among a series of proposed changes in the bill that passed the House 54-43. It also puts strict limits on police car pursuits, ends “no knock” warrants and limits when tear gas is used.

The bill is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Law and Justice Committee on Thursday before it can advance to the full Senate.

Deadly force cases

Tri-Cities police agencies say it’s rare to need to use holds, weapons or punches on suspects. It’s even more rare for them to put their arms near anyone’s neck.

In 2019, officers in Richland, Pasco and Kennewick reported using any type of force during an arrest about once every 1,400 police calls.

“I think people need to understand that an overwhelming number of our contact end peacefully,” Parramore said. “Right now, with what is being portrayed, it looks like we use deadly force a lot. That is not the case.”

In 2019, Kennewick police conducted 68 use of force investigations of all types that happened during their 100,000 response calls that year. That was about one in 1,500 calls.

Richland police also had 68 use of force reports out of nearly 53,000 responses for service that year, or one in 780 calls.

Pasco had 28 use of force incidents in over 71,000 calls, or about one in 2,500 responses.

And West Richland police reported 15 cases of their more than 5,000 cases and thousands more traffic stops.

Specifics on the type of force — whether neck hold, gun fired or physical struggle — were not immediately available from the agencies.

Kennewick police Lt. Aaron Clem said officers are trying ensure safety for the public and sometimes that requires arresting people.

“In every instance, we would prefer to do that with our mere presence and verbal commands, so that we don’t risk injury to them and ourselves and the general public,” he said. “We work to use the least amount of force possible to overcome the resistance.”

How Tri-Cities police use neck holds

Pasco officials said officers are trained to use vascular neck restraints if a suspect is biting, kicking, wrestling or trying to aggressively resist the officer. It’s part of a package of use of force options that include firearms, batons, Tasers and police dogs.

In Richland, police Capt. Chris Lee said officers use the level of force “the situation requires.”

When Pasco officers use the hold, they are required to work in pairs. One of the officers is watching to see if the person is suffering any medical distress, said Parramore.

The idea with the hold is to put pressure on the flow of blood to someone’s brain but not stop their breathing. Eventually, the person loses consciousness, but Parramore said it rarely comes to that.

A study of the technique in Spokane found 90 percent of the time the offender gave up fighting as they started feeling faint, Parramore said.

If they’re rendered unconscious, they’re put in handcuffs and medical staff is brought in to make sure the person is not injured.

In Kennewick, vascular neck holds are considered in the same category as shooting a suspect and other potentially lethal force.

“It would have to be an imminent or immediate threat of serious bodily injury to the officer or someone else,” said Clem.

Controversial moves

Neck holds have drawn more scrutiny since the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minnesota.

And it’s under added discussion in Washington state after the controversial March 2020 death of a Tacoma suspect, Manuel Ellis from oxygen deprivation while being physically restrained by police.

Other agencies have taken harder stances on neck holds. The Seattle Police Department updated its use-of-force policy in June 2020 to ban them altogether.

None of the Tri-Cities police agencies have commented on the proposed changes in House Bill 1054.

But law enforcement organizations such as the Washington Association of Sheriff’s and Police Chiefs and the Washington Fraternal Order of Police have expressed mixed opinions.

The association is concerned the bill doesn’t allow neck restraints even when officers are fighting for their lives.

“The bottom line is the sponsor of the 1054 bill and involved legislators, as well as stakeholders, worked together to make it better while still achieving many of the goals of the sponsor. While there is still work to do on HB 1054, we appreciate many of the changes in this bill,” said Steve Strachan, the association’s executive director.

Supporters of the legislation see it as a way to encourage police to deescalate situations rather than resorting to force.

“This bill encourages police to use the minimum amount of force necessary, to have less lethal options to apprehend a person and to use deadly force as the very last possible option,” activist and state racial justice task force member Jordan Chaney wrote in a recent Tri-City Herald column encouraging support for the reforms.

However, Rep. Brad Klippert, R-Kennewick, a Benton County sheriff’s deputy, voted against the bill. He said it will do the opposite of what Chaney wants by limiting the choices officers have to resolve situations with a lesser degree of force.

“When you take away the less lethal tools, now you’re telling that law enforcement officer, you can’t use that, all you have left is a lethal tool — we don’t want to do it,” Klippert said during floor debate.