Police officers in Minneapolis have used neck restraints on people hundreds of times since 2015 and 44 people have been rendered unconscious with the tactic, according to a new report.
NBC News cited police data that showed the Minneapolis Police Department has employed that particular use of force at least 237 times in the last five and a half years.
A neck restraint, according to NBC, involves a police officer compressing someone's neck with either their arm or leg. One week ago, Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin held his knee to the neck of George Floyd, who was lying on the street in handcuffs, for nearly nine minutes. Floyd lost consciousness and died, which has sparked nationwide protests.
Chauvin and three other officers who were on the scene were fired the next day, and Chauvin has since been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
The use of force tactic that Chauvin employed is not approved for use in the Minneapolis Police Department, nor is it taught in any police academy across the country, NBC reported.
Chauvin is white and Floyd was black, which has inflamed racial tensions in several American cities.
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