The Dept. of Homeland Security unveils new use-of-force guidelines
Image: DHS
The Department of Homeland Security is limiting its use of no-knock warrants and banning chokeholds in non-life-threatening situations, according to an updated use-of-force policy published yesterday.
👮 More details… Under the new changes – which apply to 80,000 officers from the DEA, TSA, Border Patrol, and other agencies within the DHS – no-knock warrants are only allowed in two instances: 1) a situation where knocking would explicitly endanger officers or other people, and 2) for evidence preservation in national security matters.
The DHS also banned its officers from using chokeholds or carotid restraints unless deadly force is authorized, and prohibited the use of deadly force against anyone whose actions only pose a threat to themselves or property.
- Alongside new guidelines for agents in the field, the DHS unveiled plans to modify its officer training program with an emphasis on de-escalation, the duty to intervene, when to use deadly force, and implicit bias and profiling.
🏛️ Zoom out: The DHS’ updates came nearly a year-and-a-half after the Department of Justice announced a similar policy restricting the use of no-knock warrants and chokeholds, which applies to more than 20,000 officers at the FBI, DEA, US Marshals Service, and other DOJ agencies.
And on a congressional level, House Democrats are planning to reintroduce the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in the coming days, though it’s not expected to pass in the Republican-controlled chamber.
- Among other things, the bill would withhold federal funding from state and local governments that don’t limit no-knock warrants and chokeholds, and would also make it easier to bring charges against police officers in federal court (a key point in the GOP’s objection).
📊 Flash poll: How do you feel about the Department of Homeland Security’s new updates to its use-of-force policy?
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Sprinkles from the Left
- Others contend that the federal government needs to match its investments in policing with reforms that make law enforcement agencies as a whole — as well as individual officers — more accountable to the communities that they serve.
- Some commentators argue that now is the right time for federal action on policing, which should include limits on no-knock warrants and chokeholds along with requiring all officers to wear body cams.
- “Watching the Watchmen” –NY Times Editorial Board
- “Time for federal action on policing” –The Cullman Times Editorial Board
- “Excessive use of force has a long, shameful history in American policing” –Karl Bickel, Baltimore Sun
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that Republicans and Democrats should work to find common ground on federal police reform, which features a compromise over the issue of qualified immunity.
- Others contend that the reforms included in the DHS’ new guidelines are a good step towards solving issues of excessive force from officers – but they still wouldn’t have stopped many instances of police brutality, including Tyre Nichols’ death.
- “Find common ground on police reform” –The Post and Courier Editorial Board
- “The 'systemic' problem with policing isn't racism” –Washington Examiner Editorial Board
- “After Tyre Nichols, What Should Police Reform Look Like?” –Various authors, WSJ
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