Given the current climate regarding law enforcement training and tactics, POST staff recommends the removal of the training in the use of the Carotid Restraint Control Hold from all POST-certified courses, including Learning Domain 33 Arrest and Control in the basic courses.

Should the Commission approve, subject to the notice of Proposed Regulatory Action process, the proposed Training and Testing Specifications for Peace Officer Basic Courses, as enumerated in the report?

As part of an ongoing process, staff reviews regulations and procedures related to courses to determine if revisions are necessary. The outcome includes recommendations for updating and enhancing POST-certified courses. 

POST currently certifies training in the use of the Carotid Restraint Control Hold in Learning Domain 33 in the basic courses.

(Pursuant to the Governor's Order, effective June 5, 2020, POST staff advised presenters that the Carotid Restraint Control Hold would no longer be certified in courses beyond the basic course, and to immediately discontinue teaching the technique in all other POST courses.)

The carotid restraint control hold is a physical technique where a peace officer applies continuing compression on the carotid arteries on both sides of the neck with no effect on the respiratory structures of the throat in order to gain control of resisting subjects. 

POST presenters only provide the training curriculum for this procedure. Authority to use the procedure in the field is exclusively that of the individual agency, based on local jurisdiction legal counsel/review and/or executive direction, and defined in its agency specific use-of-force policies. 

The minimum instructional hours for Learning Domain 33, arrest and control, is 60 hours which includes the training of the carotid restraint control hold.  Instructors teaching arrest and control techniques are required to complete a POST-Certified Instructor course or an equivalency pursuant to Regulation 1070 prior to teaching. 

In the Regular Basic Course students are taught the advantages of the use of a carotid restraint control hold, the risks involved, the follow-up medical procedures, and safety precautions.  The training includes knowing the factors which cause unconsciousness and physiological responses when a carotid restraint control hold is applied.  The student must understand the potential effects associated with the improper application and procedures for handling a subject after a carotid restraint control hold has been applied.  Additionally, the student is taught the basic structures of the human neck which can be affected by the application of a carotid restraint control hold.  Each student is then tested on the carotid restraint control hold.  The student must demonstrate the following performance dimensions:  safety, awareness, balance, control, controlling force, proper techniques, verbal commands/instructions, and first aid assessment.  

The average person may be rendered unconscious within a matter of seconds after the carotid restraint control hold is properly applied.  As soon as the hold has attained the desired effect or if the subject submits to peace officer control prior to being rendered unconscious, the hold will be released and the peace officer should continue controlling the subject with the application of a different control hold or handcuffing technique.

The carotid restraint control hold can be an effective less-lethal restraint option to protect the peace officer and the resisting subjects when properly applied.   Agencies and departments have established policies regarding justification for use of the carotid restraint control hold and the follow-up steps required when the hold is applied to a subject.

The proposed changes affects Learning Domain 33 Arrest and Control (Attachment A).

Staff recommends the removal of the training in the use of the Carotid Restraint Control Hold from the basic courses pursuant to the rulemaking process and the Office of Administrative Law.  If no one requests a public hearing, the amendments to the Training and Testing Specifications would become effective immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State.