The French government has reverse its plans to ban the use of the controversial chokehold method during arrests, following protest from police unions.
French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced last week that France would stop the use of chokeholds after 1,500 people sent in complaints regarding police brutality.
“It will no longer be taught in police and gendarmerie schools. It is a method that has its dangers,”
French police are taught the chokehold, also known as the “stranglehold” and “neckhold”, during training but Black Lives Matter activists and those protesting against police violence claim it has been implicated in the deaths of suspects.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in France following the death of George Floyd, who died in U.S. police custody May 25 and also protest over the death of 24-year-old Adama Traoré was also revived, Traore was a black man of Malian origin who died in French police custody On 19 July 2016.
However France police union has protested against the ban saying their lives would be put at risk if they were unable to use the technique for arrest.
Following growing dissent from officers,France National police chief Frédéric Veaux wrote to its staffs saying the ban was being reversed.
“While awaiting a clarification of the new framework and details of when circumstances require it, the technique known as the chokehold will continue to be used with restraint and discernment,” he said.
(C) Control TV 2020.
