Excessive Force: Officers Required To Intervene

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — Citing the death of George Floyd in Minnesota last month, Arlington Heights Police Chief Nick Pecora announced a new "Duty to Intervene" policy that requires officers to intervene when observing excessive force being used by fellow officers in the field. The policy comes as Pecora recently addressed a number of community concerns regarding policing procedures at the June 15 Arlington Heights Village Board meeting.

The Duty to Intervene policy reads: Any officer present and observing another officer using force that is clearly beyond that which is objectively reasonable under the circumstances shall, when in a position to do so, safely intercede to prevent the use of such excessive force. Officers shall promptly report these observations and your associated action to a supervisor (General Order #26.1 – Rules of Conduct).

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Pecora also discussed the ban on using chokeholds as a response to resistance. The policy currently reads:

1. An officer shall not use a chokehold in the performance of his or her duties, unless a deadly response to resistance is justified. a. A chokehold means applying any direct pressure to the throat, windpipe, or airway of another with the intent to reduce or prevent the intake of air.
   b. A chokehold does not include any holding involving contact with the neck that is not intended to reduce the intake of air.
2. A peace officer shall not use a chokehold, or any lesser contact with the throat or neck area of another in order to prevent the destruction of evidence by ingestion.

"I've been with the Arlington Heights Police Department for 34 years. I was never taught how to use a chokehold as an arrest control technique," Pecora said in addressing the board.

He referred to a law passed in 2015 — by then Gov. Bruce Rauner — prohibiting chokeholds by law enforcement. Arlington Heights incorporated it in an amendment to its Response to Resistance protocol the next year. Pecora noted the exception when a chokehold is allowed being a "lethal force" situation. He defines lethal force as when an officer feels their life, or the life of another person, is in grave danger.

The Arlington Heights Police Department's policies and procedures regarding Response to Resistance can be found here.

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