George Floyd

Nation's Police Widely Condemn Move Used to Restrain George Floyd

"The police officer and those who were there that day failed George Floyd," said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum

Police watch as protesters gather in front of a Manhattan court house and jail to protest the recent death of George Floyd on May 29, 2020 in New York City.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Most of the nation's police departments have long cautioned their officers against putting pressure on the back or neck of someone lying face down during an arrest, as Minneapolis officers did to George Floyd.

There's widespread agreement in law enforcement that putting a knee on someone's neck — the move fired police Officer Derek Chauvin used to restrain Floyd — is especially dangerous.

"There hasn't been one person, one police chief, anyone I've talked to, who doesn't see this exactly the same way. The police officer and those who were there that day failed George Floyd," said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement-oriented think tank based in Washington. "Every police officer that looked at that video who knows anything about tactics shook their head."

About half a million times a year, according to some studies, police restrain subjects they arrest by putting them face down in handcuffs. But many departments now discourage or even ban putting pressure to the back or neck in that position.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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