Lici Beveridge | Mississippi Clarion Ledger | November 18, 2020
In the months following the death of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, some Mississippi cities and counties have reviewed their use-of-force policies, with some making changes to improve interactions with members of the community, including banning chokeholds and other means of lethal force.
Reporters with the Clarion Ledger and Hattiesburg American reached out to more than a dozen law enforcement agencies across the state to obtain their use-of-force policies and gather demographic information to offer a glimpse of how police are using chokeholds and other methods of controlling potentially dangerous situations.
Reporters also investigated whether any of their policies have changed in light of Floyd's death on Memorial Day, when former officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly 9 minutes.
What they found is there are some cities and counties in Mississippi that do not allow chokeholds and other similar means of restraint. In addition, most of the agencies that include chokeholds in their restraint policies have protocols in place that must be followed before a chokehold can be implemented.
Other agencies, like the DeSoto County Sheriff's Department, do not specifically address chokeholds in its policy, but it may be used in accordance with federal law.
"All portions of our use-of-force policy are based on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Graham vs. Connor," said Steve Palmer, DeSoto's chief inspector Steve Palmer.
In Jackson, Mayor Chokwe Lumumba put a temporary ban on police using chokeholds and other potentially lethal methods of restraint in June, just a few weeks after Floyd's death. The ban later was made permanent and is now part of the police department's policy.
The mayor in an executive order listed eight requirements and restrictions for Jackson Police Department officers, effective immediately. The new guidelines are essentially based word-for-word from a national police reform organization under the banner #8cantwait.
Some of the eight new requirements were already in place; however, other measures — such as a ban on chokeholds, strangleholds, or any other use of force that limits a person's ability to breathe — is now official policy.
In the order, the mayor says Jackson has experienced its own cases of deaths "and other harms" through the use of excessive force by officers.
Several cities in Mississippi have adopted the eight standards, while others say many of the requirements are already in place.
McComb officials considered a ban on chokeholds in July. Mayor Quordiniah Lockley said he wanted to be proactive and presented the idea to the city's Board of Selectmen, who approved the measure banning chokeholds and other methods of lethal force.
Even before Floyd's death, Hattiesburg banned the use of chokeholds.
Some cities, like Jackson and Hattiesburg, have also considered implementing a police review board to gather community input, examine cases of alleged abuse by officers and make recommendations to the department.
The boards would be separate entities from the Civil Service Commissions that oversee appeals by officers who are accused of wrongdoing.
Civil rights advocates say chokeholds should be banned in Mississippi.
“Banning chokeholds is a first step to protecting people and ensuring transparency and accountability in policing," said Joshua Tom, legal director of ACLU of Mississippi. "Departments in Mississippi have the imperative to review their use-of-force policies to ensure force is a last resort."
While civil rights advocates push for a ban on chokeholds, one law professor says in Mississippi, it's not an option some departments would consider.
Matt Steffey, law professor at Mississippi College, said when it comes to banning chokeholds, "we're not exactly on the front of the curve here confronting that issue."
Deaths from use of force "isn't a technique problem, it's a training problem," he said.
Steffey said, in his opinion, the majority of time on the force is spent dealing with accident reports or nonviolent crimes, adding, "they are much more likely to get a cat out of a tree than shoot somebody."
But departments also should be focusing on de-escalation tactics, especially with those who may be mentally challenged or mentally ill, he said.
"It's going to take training and retraining and not just policy," Steffey said. "The officers have to have an almost instinctive but certainly a practiced response before the adrenaline gets pumping in their system. ... There's evidence that retraining works, accountability works."
