Over a year ago, the Ministry of the Interior decided to drop the "strangulation method", a controversial arrest method said to be risky. Yet, because of no other alternative, this technique was allowed so far to be used by the forces of the order. Now, new methods put an end to this method. According to a source from the AFP, Police director general Frédéric Veaux is said to have sent a letter to the highest authorities to tell them about the latest guidelines.
Therefore, the strangulation method is now officially dropped, and will no longer be taught, and replaced by three techniques: "pivoting to the ground", "pressing half the shoulder down to the ground", "managing by controling the head". Three methods based on "the principle of force graduation depending on the individual's resistance, using methods to put them on the ground and managing them without using non-stop and prolonged pressure on the larynx".
For the record, this past Monday June 8, 2020, as an answer to the demonstrations condemning police violence, Christophe Castaner has made several announcements including the end of the strangulation method. These statements cause police officers to be mad as they felt they were not supported by the Minister they ae under the care of.
According to the AFP, national police director general Frédéric Veaux sent a note to police officers to tell them that "waiting for a new framework to be set up and as circumstances demand it, the strangulation method will continue to be used with measure and discernment, and will be gradually replaced as they will be trained [...]".
Although the former Secretary of the Interior said “the French police is not the American police” alluding to George Floyd’s death, he has yet admitted that some practices could be dangerous. He says it is necessary “to make measures because no-one shall risk their own life when being arrested. […] The method grabbing someone by the neck, known as the strangulation method, will be abandoned, and no longer taught in police schools. This is a method that included many dangers. By the way, if a police officer must keep someone on the ground when arresting them, it will be no banned to kneel on their necks”.
Castaner also claimed: “controlling is a simple checking; this is not grading one’s face. This is not a sanction for a look, or an action led based on the color of skin. This is unbearable. […] If there are still services where the number of ID checks remains a criterion to assess the activity, I demand it to end immediately”.
