title
An Ordinance of the County of Allegheny, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, amending and supplementing the Allegheny County Code of Ordinances through the creation of a new Division 9, entitled "Conduct," and a new Chapter 910, entitled "Chokeholds and Strangleholds," in order to prohibit the use of certain types of force against individuals within Allegheny County.
body
WHEREAS, strangleholds temporarily cut off blood flow to the brain and are generally employed to render a subject unconscious for a time, while chokeholds are generally employed to incapacitate an individual by restricting their breathing through the application of pressure to the windpipe; and,
WHEREAS, more specifically, strangleholds rely upon compression of one or both carotid arteries and/or jugular veins in order to limit blood flow to the subject's brain, causing cerebral ischemia and hypoxic unconsciousness; and
WHEREAS, while properly applied strangleholds can result in rapid incapacitation of subjects, often in a matter of 10 to 20 seconds, the potential dangers presented by the improper or extended application of strangleholds have been known and studied for at least decades, see, e.g., Koiwai, EK (March 1987) "Deaths Allegedly Caused by the Use of "Choke-Holds (Shime-waza)," Journal of Forensic Sciences 32(2), 412-32; and
WHEREAS, chokeholds rely upon the compression of an individual's upper airways (generally the trachea, larynx, and/or laryngopharynx) in order to limit the subject's ability to breathe, and in the process ultimately causing an asphyxia-induced condition of unconsciousness; and
WHEREAS, chokeholds typically are regarded as taking a longer period of time (sometimes several minutes) to incapacitate an individual to whom they are applied and require a longer recovery period once released, and also can create a risk of serious injury to the subject's larynx and/or hyoid bone when improperly applied; and
WHEREAS, both chokeholds and strangleholds are sometimes e...
Click here for full text