VOA慢速英语2020--Police Chokeholds Reviewed Around the World

George Floyd died on May 25 after an American police officer pressed his leg on Floyd's neck for several minutes during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Three days later, another black man struggled to breathe under the knee of a French police officer on the streets of Paris.

The arrest methods in which officers restrain suspects by the neck to prevent them from moving are used around the world. They are known as chokeholds. Critics have long blamed the methods for cutting off oxygen and, in some cases, causing death.

"We cannot say that the American situation is foreign to us," said French lawmaker Francois Ruffin. He has been pushing for a ban on chokeholds. But the legislative¹ effort has been delayed by the coronavirus crisis.

The May 28 arrest in Paris of the black man is among those being compared to what happened to Floyd in Minneapolis. The Paris arrest was filmed and widely shared online.

Police rules and policies on chokeholds and restraints are different from country to country.

In Belgium, police trainer Stany Durieux says he warns trainees² every time he sees a "knee applied³ to the spinal⁴ column." He added, "It is also forbidden to lean on a suspect completely." This, he said, can crush a suspect's ribs⁵ and make it impossible for them to breathe.

A spokesman for Israeli police says forces there are not permitted "to put pressure on the neck or airway⁶" during an arrest. But Human Rights Watch reported that Israeli border police have used chokeholds on Palestinian children as young as 11.

In Germany, the police union says officers are permitted to put pressure on the side of a suspect's head for a short time -- but not on the neck.

The College of Policing in Britain says suspects should be placed on their side or in a sitting, kneeling or standing⁷ position "as soon as practicable." London's police website says "any form of pressure to the neck area can be highly dangerous."

Even within one country, the rules and policies for arresting a suspect can differ.

The New York Police Department's guide says that officers "SHALL NOT" use chokeholds. It also says officers should avoid any actions that may put extreme pressure on a suspect's chest area.

But another method of restraint, in which pressure is applied to the neck with an arm was permitted for police in San Diego, California. After Floyd's death last week, San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit said he would order an end to the method.

France's head of training for police forces in rural areas, Laurent de Joux, says officers are told to avoid pressing down on the chests. They also are no longer taught to put pressure to the neck. "You don't need to be a doctor to understand that this is dangerous," de Joux added.

But rules issued in 2015 for the French National Police in cities and urban areas permit officers to apply pressure for a short time on a suspect's chest.

Christophe Rouget, a police union official in France, defended the method. He said such methods "are used by all the police in the world because they represent the least amount of danger. The only thing is that they have to be well used," he said. "In the United States, we saw that it wasn't well used, with pressure applied in the wrong place and for too long."

He added that the "real problem" in France is that officers do not get enough continued training after being taught restraints in police school.

"You need to repeat them often to do them well," Rouget said.

I'm Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

apply - v. to cause force or pressure on something

spinal column - n. backbones⁸ that provide support for the entire body

forbid - v. to say that something is not permitted

lean - v. to rest on or against by force

practicable - adj. able to be done or used

1 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

2 trainees   

新兵( trainee的名词复数 )； 练习生； 接受训练的人； 训练中的动物

参考例句：

• We've taken on our full complement of new trainees. 我们招收的新学员已经满额了。
• The trainees were put through an assault course. 受训人员接受了突击训练课程。

3 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

4 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

5 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

6 airway   

n.空中航线，通风口

参考例句：

• Lay them on their side and ensure the airway is unobstructed.让他们侧躺着，并确保呼吸道畅通。
• There is a purple airway in London Airport.伦敦机场里有一条皇家专用飞机跑道。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 backbones   

n.骨干( backbone的名词复数 )；脊骨；骨气；脊骨状物

参考例句：

• Why do hummingbirds and gorillas both have backbones? 为什么蜂鸟和大猩猩都有脊骨？ 来自辞典例句
• Simply adding bandwidth to the Internet backbones is not an answer. 只是简单的在互联网骨架上增加带宽是应付不了的。 来自互联网