City Aims To Ban Police Chokeholds, Promote Reporting Misconduct

TUSCALOOSA, AL. — Proposed ordinance changes to the city code for Tuscaloosa, as the first steps under the city's newly-created Project Unity, would see unbiased policing policies implemented at the Tuscaloosa Police Department, along with a ban on chokeholds and the introduction of a system that will allow officers to report misconduct on the part of their supervisors or fellow officers.

Project Unity was rolled out in August by Mayor Walt Maddox, creating two different committees tasked with addressing a range of community issues — one area being the Chief's Commission For Community Policing, which is focusing on officer recruitment, training, retention, and community outreach.

Tuscaloosa Police Chief Brent Blankley and Associate City Attorney Scott Holmes introduced the amended ordinance during Tuesday's Public Safety Committee meeting of the Tuscaloosa City Council and expounded on the changes. The measure will now go on to a full Council vote next week, where it is expected to be approved after Council members voiced their support on Tuesday.

"These are a tremendous addition to our city," Holmes said. "They're something that the police department, to their credit, were already preparing as internal policy, but we decided that rather than an internal policy that could be changed by the police chief, these were a much stronger statement as a public facing policy and a policy of this council that, regardless of who the police chief is and how they feel, cannot change unilaterally."

If passed by the full council, Tuscaloosa Police officers would be prohibited from using "choke holds and/or vascular neck restraints" unless the use of deadly force is authorized. The ordinance defines a chokehold as "a physical maneuver that restricts the blood flow to the brain and/or individual’s ability to breath for the purposes of incapacitation."

A violation of the chokehold ban, according to the amended city code, would be punished as a “Class A offense” under the City of Tuscaloosa’s Employee Discipline Policy.

Class A offenses can range from on-duty DUIs in a government vehicle to major ethics violations and felony crimes, all of which are punishable by termination on the first offense.

The first set of changes introduced by Project Unity also aim to incorporate a set of "unbiased policing" policies implemented to ensure "fair and impartial treatment" of those interacting with TPD officers.

The set of policies is broad, with an emphasis on identifying bias in everyday policing standing out as the consistent theme. For instance, under one subsection: "Officers shall not consider individual demographics when performing law enforcement duties or delivering police services except when such characteristics are part of a specific subject description."

One change under the unbiased policing measures, though, would prohibit officers from engaging in a law enforcement matter when it involves a family member, friend, relative, or other person with whom he or she had a personal relationship, in an effort not the compromise the officer's objectivity.

Also, officers who witness or who are aware of incidents of bias policing would be required to report the incident to a supervisor, while also giving supervisors the ability to provide the involved officers with informal, non-punitive intervention such as training and counseling.

All TPD employees, as part of Project Unity's policy amendments, will receive basic and periodic in-service training. Also, when deemed necessary, remedial training will be provided on topics related to police ethics, cultural diversity, police citizen interactions, standards of conduct, conducting motor vehicle stops, implicit bias and related topics suitably for preventing incident of bias policing.

The third component of the ordinance changes would see officers tasked with the duty of preventing and reporting abuse on the part of other officers, while also offering the reporting officer protection from repercussions.

The ordinance, if passed, would say that any Tuscaloosa Police officer who witnesses violations of the city's unbiased policing policy or the use of a chokehold, regardless of rank of the offending officer, must get involved to ensure the safety of any individual subject to abuse and as soon as possible report the violation to superiors.

The policy, as it is written, prohibits retaliation against TPD employees who report potential abuse or participate in the investigation of the complaint of misconduct.

"Any employee bringing a complaint under this policy, or assisting in the investigation of such a complaint, will not be adversely affected in terms and conditions of employment, nor discharged because of the complaint," the ordinance says.

The ordinance also says those involved in retaliatory action will be subject to discipline, up to and including termination.