A police hold banned in Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as other cities, is still in use within the San Diego Police Department and community activists are asking the city of San Diego's committee on public safety to intervene.
NBC 7 investigates found San Diego police officers have been using the carotid restraint less often but still trains its officers on how to properly use the restraint.
In 2017, there was a slight uptick, the carotid restraint was used 107 times out of nearly 14,000 use of force incidents.
Officers using a carotid restraint wrap their arms around a suspect's head forming a specific "V" with the officer's forearm and bicep squeezing on the carotid arteries.
It looks similar to a chokehold in which a person wraps their arms around the neck of another restricting the airway.
Martin Eder with Activist San Diego wants the San Diego Police Department to end the practice.
“It’s a barbaric practice that ends up getting many more people arrested, hurt, choked and violated,” Eder said.
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Eder appeared with representatives from various community activist groups at the meeting of the SD City Council Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee on Wednesday.
They are urging local officials to demand the SDPD fall in line with other police departments and stop using the restraint.
“We understand this chokehold is used below I-8 on mostly minority communities and we will not stand for it,” said Yusef Miller, a representative of CAIR San Diego and the Racial Justice Coalition San Diego.
Law enforcement authorities say there is a difference between a chokehold and a carotid restraint in how an officer applies the hold.
“When they do use this it’s like milliseconds they have to assess the situation and an individual. You cannot control very adequately or safely how this restraint is going to be used and the effect it’s going to have on an individual,” Alara Chilton with the San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association, said Wednesday.
San Diego Chief of Police David Nisleit told NBC 7 he will not comment until the Community Review Board on Police Practices sends their recommendation to police.
