The New Hampshire Senate is considering a law to prohibit police officers from using chokeholds in non-deadly scenarios, two weeks after the death of George Floyd prompted nationwide protests.
In a last-minute amendment to a sweeping package of criminal justice bills, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted, 5-0, Friday to include a ban on the use of chokeholds in most circumstances. The bill defines chokeholds as “the application of any pressure to the throat, windpipe, or neck, which prevents or reduces intake of air or oxygen to the brain.”
But the ban would not apply to certain situations allowing the use of deadly force. Those situations are already defined in state law as those in which the officer believes the force is necessary “to defend himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes is the imminent use of deadly force.”
“We have seen the need to make significant changes to our law enforcement training and force policy,” said Sen. Martha Hennessey, a Hanover Democrat. “I am grateful for the bipartisan work of my Judiciary Committee colleagues for working together to advance these important measures in these difficult times.”
Friday’s amendment is part of a bundle of legislation that will receive a vote on the Senate floor Tuesday.
Other reforms include a reduction in punishment for those who vandalize; a new officer misconduct reporting process; a ban on private prisons in New Hampshire; and a requirement that law enforcement officers receive “psychological stability screening” before joining a department.
The chokehold ban was broadly supported by police representatives at a hearing Friday, who noted that the state’s Police Standards and Training Council does not teach or advocate for chokeholds to begin with.
The council instructs all police officers in the state before they can be hired by departments, though each New Hampshire department can presently set its own policies on chokehold use.
The proposed chokehold ban, if signed by the governor, would take effect immediately.
The idea appears to have support from both parties – as well as the governor’s office. Asked about the policy last Wednesday, Gov. Chris Sununu said that he would support banning the maneuver.
“Sure, yeah, absolutely I’d support that,” Sununu said. “There’s gotta be a better way. In those situations, if you’re putting the lives at risk of those you’re trying to apprehend or arrest, there’s gotta be a better way to do it obviously. So if it’s determined that a chokehold or a knee on the neck – and I think it’s pretty obvious it’s been determined that those are very dangerous techniques – there’s gotta be other ways to do it, of course.”
If passed, the package will head to the New Hampshire House for further discussion and a vote.
The Senate’s criminal justice legislative package contains a number of other proposed reforms. One would ban private prisons, preventing the Department of Corrections commissioner from entering into contracts with private agencies or facilities in order to transfer inmates.
Another would require psychological screening tests for officers seeking to start at police departments, paid for with state funds.
Police departments are technically already required under New Hampshire law to carry out psychological screenings, but only if their towns provide funding for it. Departments that don’t get the funding don’t have to do them, following the prohibition on “unfunded mandates.”
But by creating a dedicated state fund, lawmakers would ensure that all departments receive that funding, meaning all must carry out the screenings.
Some of the money would come out of civil forfeitures from drug arrests.
Another provision in the package would shield underage drinkers from punishment if they are seeking medical treatment.
The provision would provide immunity from liability if someone under 21 requests medical help for themselves or another person. Substance use treatment advocates argue that without that immunity, underage party-goers have less incentive to call 911 if someone drinks too much.
The immunity includes situations where the affected person is suffering from “extreme physical illness, decreased level of consciousness, respiratory depression, coma, mania, or death from the consumption of alcohol.”
New Hampshire already includes a similar sanctuary policy for those who overdose on opioids or heroin.
Another proposed reform would make it more difficult to annul domestic violence convictions.
That measure would make it so that if an abuser is convicted of multiple separate misdemeanors for domestic violence, no past misdemeanor can be eligible for annulment until they all become eligible.
And finally, the package would reduce the penalty for vandalizing public property from a Class A misdemeanor to a violation.
(Ethan DeWitt can be reached at edewitt@cmonitor.com, at (603) 369-3307.)