Star Tribune op-ed re Eric Garner: It wasn't a chokehold, it was a neck restraint.

[Eric J in MN]

Op-ed by a retired MN cop:

The Lateral Vascular Neck Restraint (LVNR) is a hands-on application that police use rather than using their nightstick, pepper spray or Taser. The LVNR appears to the untrained eye to be a choke hold. If the LVNR is applied properly it does not choke the arrestee at all; rather, it closes the blood flow on both sides of the neck causing unconsciousness.

My Comment:

A cop put his arm on a man's neck. The man said 11 times, "I can't breathe." Then he stopped breathing.

According to this article, that's not a "chokehold," it's an "LVNR."

Euphemisms are one response to the killing of Eric Garner. But euphemisms won't stop unarmed men from being killed by cops.

A better response would be to make it a felony for a cop to put his arms, hands, or club on someone's neck.

Make it a crime for cops to touch our necks, regardless whether it's called a "chokehold" or "LVNR" or "takedown" or "headhold."

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/284931801.html

[merrily]

1. SO WHAT?

[shraby]

3. As my grandmother would say, "So buttons on a bathtub". In other words,

"So what" is not an appropriate comment.
It was very clear what the op was saying and I agree with the thought.
When I was in my 20s there was a new "game" in the newspapers/t.v.
It was a game of pressing on that special point in the neck and the other person would drop to the floor unconscious. It rather got out of hand and a couple of people died from it.
Then it was made against the law because it was a dangerous game.
That's probably about the time that the "no choke hold" rule was made in police departments.
It would be a good idea to make some rules concerning grabbing a person by the neck. The neck can be broken this way as well as a person rendered unconscious or dead by an over-zealous cop.

[merrily]

4. I did not notice that this OP was in the Minnesota group.

Bye!

[pipoman]

2. We did this once in a while as kids...knock each other out...

Stupid shit kids do...there is no choking when done correctly.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. That whole article was just infuriating.

But I guess it demonstrates the standard police mind-set.

Years ago (late '80s - early '90s) I knew a few Minneapolis cops. One of them flat-out told me that they viewed the world as comprised of two classes of people: cops and assholes. Meaning, of course, that to them we are all assholes. They know they can more easily get away with abusing black and other minority citizens, but even so we are all assholes to the police - which means they can do any damn thing they think is "necessary," and they probably won't have to answer for it.