Officer training from coast to coast says that you only kneel on the shoulderblade and only even do that long enough to get the cuffs on the subject. After cuffs are on, you get the subject into a neutral or standing position so they aren’t laying face-down because many people with various medical conditions (drug induced or not) will encounter severe problems (such as death) if left just laying face-down.
Think about that: police are trained not to even leave a subject laying face down without any pressure on them because it’s too dangerous and could kill somebody. This officer got cuffs on the subject and kneeled ON HIS NECK for 8 minutes. If the officer were following training and it were just bad training, I’d say fault the police training and fix that problem. But nobody trains for kneeling on a handcuffed subject’s neck. This officer chose to do so against the training he received and against the warnings he would have (or at least should have) received about the severe medical issues associated with doing that.
I’m sure George Floyd was no saint. They never are in these situations. And yet we have an officer who violated training that was specifically designed to prevent the death of suspects in custody and a suspect in his custody died as a result. Officers have a sworn duty to protect those who are in their custody since those in custody cannot protect themselves. George Floyd wasn’t a saint; he was a man in police custody who died because while in custody, an officer failed at doing his job. Policing is hard work, but when it’s done poorly, people die.
Now wait a minute. I heard on "Good Morning America" that Minneapolis did in fact train officers to do that and approved that method of subduing a potentially dangerous suspect.
Does anyone know which is correct?