Chokehold ban among criminal justice reforms
SACRAMENTO (AP) — Spurred by the slayings of George Floyd and other Black people in police custody across the country, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday banned certain chokeholds as he approved several new laws designed to increase oversight of the criminal justice system.
The California bill does not apply to the sort of suffocation that killed Floyd in May in Minneapolis and led to months of protests. Floyd died when a police officer put his knee on Floyd’s neck while he was on the ground.
Still, Assemblyman Mike Gipson said his bill was spurred by Floyd and “many others (who) have cried out, ‘I can’t breathe,’ and law enforcement must now use alternative methods to restrain a suspect instead of these life-threatening holds.”
California’s ban applies to arm-based grips including chokeholds that apply pressure to a person’s windpipe, and to carotid holds, which slow the flow of blood to the brain. The ban on chokeholds and other neck restraints followed an order by Newsom in June discouraging use of the holds.
Under another new law, one that has been years in the making, the state attorney general will be required to investigate fatal police shootings of unarmed civilians.
Newsom also acted over the objection of the county sheriffs’ association when he approved a law making it clear that county supervisors can create oversight Boards and inspectors general with subpoena powers over independently elected sheriffs.
Attorney General Xavier Becerra opposed versions of the bill giving his office responsibility for investigating fatal shootings by police and blocked similar proposals in previous years, on the grounds that his office lacks the funds or personnel needed to take over from hundreds of local law enforcement agencies. Some critics, meanwhile, said the attorney general’s office is too tied to law enforcement to be completely objective.
Assemblyman Kevin McCarty said his bill recognizes the “inherent conflict of interest with police essentially policing themselves.”