ICYMI: Whatcom law enforcement used these neck restraints, now reviewing policies
Several Whatcom County law enforcement agencies will see changes to their use of force policies in response to police accountability legislation signed earlier this week.
The legislation, signed Tuesday, May 18, by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, included a dozen bills that ban neck restraints, require officers to intervene when colleagues are engaging in excessive force and creates an independent office to review deadly force, among other things. The legislation was prompted after last year’s protests that focused on systemic racism and justice for people of color killed at the hands of police.
House Bill 1054 prohibits the use of chokeholds and neck restraints by police officers and restricts the use of tear gas and vehicular pursuits. It also bans no-knock warrants. The legislation is expected to take effect July 25, 2021.
At least four of Whatcom County’s law enforcement agencies have policies related to neck restraints that allowed their use by the agency’s officers, while at least three do not, according to public records obtained by The Bellingham Herald.
From 2016 through April 30, 2021, vascular neck restraints were used by Bellingham officers and Whatcom deputies at least 51 times, according to public records obtained by The Herald.
The new legislation means Whatcom County’s two largest law enforcement agencies will no longer be allowed to use those moves.
Policies in place
The Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, which provides training for all law enforcement officers in the state, does not include training on neck restraints as part of its general law enforcement training curriculum, according to Sean Hendrickson, the division manager for the Applied Skills Training Division at the state training commission.
Hendrickson said the commission has 323 agencies that send their employees for training, and a small percentage of those agencies have policies that allow for neck restraints to be used. Hendrickson did not have the specific number of agencies with neck restraint policies.
“Out of the 720 hours for us to devote the time necessary to get training on neck restraints versus how many students are actually going to be using those out in the field, we just couldn’t justify having it part of the curriculum,” Hendrickson said in an interview with The Herald.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the commission would offer an after-hours neck restraint course for any students who wanted to go through the training, Hendrickson said. The commission stopped doing the after-hours course when it adjusted its training due to the coronavirus pandemic. Hendrickson said he doesn’t believe the commission will be reinstituting the after-hours training in light of the new legislation.
For the agencies that had neck restraint policies, the ban takes away an option for an officer to use in a control or defensive tactics situation, he said. Officers are left using other types of force, known as intermediate force, such as tasers, impact weapons and OC spray, which are usually used when there is some distance between the officer and person the officer is dealing with, Hendrickson said.
Oleoresin capsicum, or OC, spray is better known as pepper spray.
When it comes to an officer being closer to a person, Hendrickson said the ban on neck restraints only leaves officers with the option to hit or knee the person, which he says are a higher level of intrusion for the person.
Hendrickson said use of neck restraints would be used when an officer is likely already in the process of using force and is different from the de-escalation training the commission provides.
Hendrickson said the focus of the commission’s de-escalation training is on trying to slow down the pace of critical events, meaning managing the amount of distance officers should have between themselves and the people they’re interacting with based on the information they have and the environment they’re in. The de-escalation training is about increasing the amount of time officers have to make decisions, Hendrickson said.
The Bellingham Police Department, Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, Blaine Police Department and Ferndale Police Department all have policies relating to neck restraints that allow their usage by the departments’ officers.
The policies for each of the four departments are largely the same, the public records show. The policies state neck restraints can only be used by officers who have been properly trained on how to use them and that officers should review training annually. The policies also state that neck restraints should only be used in such cases when a person is violent or physically resisting or has demonstrated an intention to be violent and has the potential to harm themselves or the officers, the records state.
The policies also require that a person who has a vascular neck restraint used on them be examined by medical personnel.
Using neck restraints
From Jan. 1, 2016, through April 30, 2021, all Whatcom County law enforcement agencies used neck restraints approximately 51 times, the public records show.
Bellingham police used vascular neck restraints 26 times, with the most recent use on Nov. 9, 2019, according to the public records. Of the 26 times a vascular neck restraint was used, 10 of those incidents involved a person who was suspected to have mental or behavioral health issues, the records show. Fourteen of the incidents involved someone who was suspected to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Roughly 65% of the 26 incidents, or 17 of them, involved the neck restraint being used on a white person. Nearly 35% of the incidents involved the neck restraint being used on a person of color, the public records show. Out of the nine incidents where a neck restraint was used on a person of color, four (15%) were used on Native American or Indigenous people.
All of the people Bellingham police used neck restraints on were Whatcom County residents.
Census estimates for 2019 show 3.4% of Whatcom’s population is Native American or Indigenous and, with 86% white alone, people of color and Hispanic descent make up 14% of the county’s population.
In all instances where a vascular neck restraint was used by Bellingham police, except one when there were four officers involved, all of the officers involved were white.
All of the incidents were reviewed internally and were found to be within legal parameters and agency policies, the records state.
Bellingham police did not have any incidents in 2020 or 2021 where a neck restraint was used, the records show.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office used vascular neck restraints 25 times from 2016 through the end of April 2021, according to public records.
The last time a sheriff’s deputy used a neck restraint was April 13, 2021, the records show. It was used on a white woman who received minor injuries, the records state.
Demographic data for the other 24 incidents involving the sheriff’s office was not immediately available.
What comes next
Bellingham police officials are studying the legislation Inslee signed to determine what in the department’s policies and training will have to change and what won’t have to change because it already meets the standard set in place by the new legislation, according to Bellingham Police Lt. Claudia Murphy.
“After we make that careful, thoughtful, and coordinated assessment, update relevant policies (if it shows our policies are not within the new law,) put a training plan in place to update and inform all of our personnel, and determine a clear path forward, we will provide further communication,” Murphy said in response to The Herald’s question regarding how the legislation affects the department and its officers.
Four officials of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to requests for comment made Thursday morning.
The Whatcom County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild doesn’t “generally believe that removing alternatives to more dangerous and/or lethal force response options will help reduce injuries or deaths,” in regards to the bans on using lateral vascular neck restraints and other carotid control holds, according to guild President Steve Harris.
“However, we must adapt to changes in what the public expects from us and we will continue providing the exceptional level of professionalism our community deserves and expects,” Harris said in an emailed statement. “We all feel very lucky to work in our community and to enjoy the level of support and respect we receive from the overwhelming majority of folks who live, work, and visit Whatcom County.”
Ferndale police are scheduled to participate in various trainings provided by the state training commission and the department’s insurance provider (the Washington Cities Insurance Authority) regarding the new legislation, according to Riley Sweeney, a city of Ferndale spokesperson.
Sweeney said Ferndale police did not want to speak on the issue of the changing legislation “until they have gotten up to speed.”
Lynden Police Chief Steve Taylor said the department will follow the new mandates and is updating department policies required by the new legislation. Taylor, who has been police chief since January 2020, said he was not aware of any instances where neck restraints or chokeholds were used by Lynden police officers since he has been with the department.
The Blaine Police Department’s carotid control policy shows that it was temporarily overridden by a special order, the documents show. Details about the special order were not immediately available.
The Sumas Police Department, Everson Police Department, Blaine Police Department and the Bellingham Police Guild did not respond to requests for comment.
This story was originally published May 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
