Cities ban chokeholds, change police policies

Minneapolis, New York, LA, others take action

Protests after the deaths of unarmed black Americans George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others are prompting policy changes across the USA.

The changes include multiple cuts in funding for police departments and criminalization of the use of the chokehold by officers on civilians. Among the policy shifts:

Minneapolis

After banning chokeholds June 5 and launching a civil rights investigation on the police department, a majority of City Council members supported dismantling of the city’s police department.

Houston

Mayor Sylvester Turner issued an order Wednesday to the police department banning choke- and strangleholds, except as a last resort if an officer or the public is in immediate danger. Mayor Turner said placing an officer’s knee on a suspect’s neck is forbidden.

Los Angeles

Mayor Eric Garcetti vowed to defund the police June 3, cutting as much as $150 million slated to increase the police department’s budget.

New York City

Legislation addressing police misconduct will be voted on by the City Council on Public Safety in June, Speaker Corey Johnson announced. This includes a bill that would criminalize the use of the chokehold or other police conduct that restricts breathing and a second bill outlining new guidelines for officer discipline.

Chicago

Mayor Lori Lightfoot promised that the Accountability Task Force she created Dec. 15 would take on new measures, including crisis intervention and procedural justice training, an officer wellness program and a new recruit program on police-community relations, according to a statement June 5. She said she was considering new licensing requirements for officers.

Seattle

The city’s budget committee announced an intent to defund the police department and a transparent investigation of police funding.

Cleveland

A resolution was approved at a virtual City Council meeting June 3 that declared racism a public health crisis. “Racism is a sickness,” said Blaine Griffin, chairman of the council’s Health and Human Services Committee. “We want to institutionalize racial equity.”

Philadelphia

The “New Normal Budget Act” was announced by the City Council on June 5 to tackle housing, poverty, health care and job inequities exposed by COVID-19 and civil unrest. Mayor Jim Kenney signed an executive order to remove a controversial statue of former mayor and police commissioner Frank Rizzo, known for his aggressive policing of people of color, after years of requests to take it down.

Dallas

Mayor Eric Johnson promised to improve diversity training, increase funding to reduce urban decay, strengthen education and improve infrastructure in African American neighborhoods.

San Diego

The City Council voted 8-1 to create an Office of Race and Equity and increase funding for its police department June 8 after about 10 hours of public comment by phone, during which many residents demanded a reduction in police funding, NBC 7 San Diego reported. “This is about systemic, generational issues that we must acknowledge and address, and those won’t be solved overnight with a single budget vote,” Mayor Kevin Faulconer said in a statement to USA TODAY. “We’re going to keep funding our police department, but it won’t be business as usual.”

Phoenix

The City Council voted 7-2 on June 8 to fully fund the Office of Accountability, allowing civilian oversight of the police department and enhancing accountability practices such as requiring that officers wear body cameras.

Montgomery, Ala.

Mayor Steven Reed announced the police department will join the #8CantWait project, a campaign designed to reduce harm caused by police and create accountable communities. “Too often throughout history, black men and women have disproportionately been the victims of heinous acts of violence at the hands of law enforcement,” Reed said June 8. “This must end now.”

Washington

Mayor Muriel Bowser renamed a section of street near the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza” on June 5. Bowser had city crews paint Black Lives Matter in 50-foot-wide yellow letters on a section of 16th Street in front of Lafayette Square in honor of protesters of police brutality.