This
question was sent to me via e-mail by a reader. In light of the recent
choke hold death of Eric Garner that involved police, I thought it would be
interesting to cover it here from a police training perspective so I've invited just such a person to handle this question. This information will be split over three posts.
Today is
Part I.
James
asks:
I came
across your website when searching out forensics for my novel and wondered if
you might be able to assist me.
I am writing a contemporary spy thriller set in the UK. In my spy thriller my protagonist is escaping the police and wants to knock one of them out. But he is a good guy and the police aren’t the baddies in the piece, they’ve just got in the way. So he has no desire to do permanent damage to the cop.
I am writing a contemporary spy thriller set in the UK. In my spy thriller my protagonist is escaping the police and wants to knock one of them out. But he is a good guy and the police aren’t the baddies in the piece, they’ve just got in the way. So he has no desire to do permanent damage to the cop.
In Hollywood,
a blow to the head is enough but I know that in reality there is no guarantee
that this will render someone unconscious and is just as likely to cause brain
injury. Other techniques in films are choke holds and striking certain nerves
in the neck.
My
question: Are
either of these options really feasible? If my character was ex-special forces
would he be able to choke someone just long enough to make them lose
consciousness while avoiding starving the brain of oxygen and thus causing
brain damage?
Similarly,
are there any nerves or blood vessels that he could strike or cut off that would
render the victim unconscious while avoiding serious harm? If the victim were
struggling would this make a difference?
Karl
Says:
The
answer to much of this is ‘yes’ there are several ways to temporarily
incapacitate a person via choke hold, or a strike to one of several nerve
centers.
What
Hollywood generally gets wrong is how long this effect lasts. Hollywood will
show a person getting “knocked out,” and there is time for the hero to drag the
limp body off to a dark corner, or simply leave them behind where they fall and
continue their mission, escape, etc.
The
truth is, many of these techniques will merely stun a person, and rarely knock
them out. Either way, the effects only last for a few seconds, even if the
person is knocked unconscious. In law enforcement, when we train with these
techniques, the general rule of thumb is that the technique must be followed
with handcuffing, or another approved restraint technique.
If a
police officer has legal justification to apply a “choking” restraint against a
person, or if we strike one of the nerve centers with a goal of stunning them,
the same officer will generally have enough cause to arrest that person as well.
But the main reason for the restraints is because the cop doesn’t want the
attacker to simply get up a few seconds later and continue the attack.
One of
the best examples I can give you is the very real world of Mixed Martial Arts
(MMA). Watching this sport on television demonstrates my point perfectly. The
fighter who gets incapacitated, knocked out with a punch, or choke hold
generally gets up within just a few seconds. Generally, he wants to continue
the fight even though they have actually just lost the fight and may not even
realize it.
It's as
if the fighter’s brain has been paused as a result of being temporarily stunned
from the knockout punch and as soon as the PLAY button is pressed, the
fighter’s brain and body want to start where they left off, which was in the
middle of a fight. This is why you will often see the referee having to
restrain the fighter who was just knocked out and explain to them, “Dude, you
just lost. You got knocked out.” This sometimes takes a few moments to
sink in with the recently knocked out fighter.
They are
still overcoming the effects of the being knocked out. Their brain is still
trying to catch up. They don’t remember falling to the canvas like a sack of
bricks. Sometimes the fighter falls and his hands are still up in a fighting
position, but his eyes are staring off into space. But they still get up after
only a few seconds and they are very capable of continuing the fight, but the
rules of MMA prevent this. There are no rules on the street and a police
officer must take into account that the person will continue the fight unless
something is done to prevent it.
We'll continue with Part II on Thursday.
***********************************************************************
Deputy
Karl Mai is a 16 year veteran of the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office in
Colorado Springs, CO. He has mostly worked street patrol and as a Field
Training Officer (FTO), but has also worked in the county jail and as a
Detective.
Jordyn, this is fascinating! Thank you so much, Karl! Even I may have made errors in my writing here. I do know that unconsciousness doesn't last long and I generally have the character throw up after a head hit, but a few seconds? Yes, I can see why you would have to have two officers at least, one to render the person out of it and one to use the cuffs.
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