"After the tragic death of George Floyd, our community requested we audit our policies and assure them that we are aligned with the best practices in the policing industry," he said.
Tusken called a news conference Thursday afternoon to announce several policy additions and refinements, saying that many of them reflect previously unstated practices that were already in place. He expressed his hope that the updated use-of-force policy will help officers better understand police department expectations and will also promote better public understanding.
At the top of Tusken's list was the banning the use of chokeholds or strangleholds.
"This is not new to our policy," he said, adding that for more than 20 years the department has not employed neck restraint tactics that deprive suspects of air or that cut off blood flow.
Duluth added new provisions to its duty to intervene policy, too, encouraging officers to hold one another accountable for unacceptable behavior, regardless of rank or tenure with the department. In the recent Minneapolis death, three officers stood by as a fourth pinned Floyd to the ground with a knee to his neck for nearly nine minutes.
"I often say in our organization that we need to be our brothers' and sisters' keepers," Tusken said.
Tusken announced the police department also will require officers to attempt to de-escalate potentially violent encounters and gain compliance.
"Communication is the No. 1 tool that our officers use when they're out in the field. It is our greatest asset," he said. "We train extensively on de-escalation not only as a standalone subject, but it is also incorporated into defensive tactics, firearms and use of force training."
Tusken said officers will be required to warn suspects whenever feasible before discharging a firearm. But he acknowledged that in rapidly evolving incident a verbal warning may not be possible.
The revised policy also calls for officers to fall back at times.
"A tactical retreat provides us with an opportunity to do an assessment at the scene of an incident and make a determination if our response or further response will escalate the situation or will put people in greater harm's way than our actual retreat will," Tusken said.
"We believe in the importance of upholding our social contract with our community," he said. "And our community has a voice in granting us the authority to do this work of protecting and serving with them."
The police department also aims to continue its partnerships with social workers to address issues complicated by such challenges as mental health problems and addiction.
"Our mental health unit, pairing social workers with police officers, is groundbreaking and innovative. More importantly, this program is improving the lives of people in our community each day," Tusken said.
He noted that in 2019, the police department responded to more than 4,100 calls involving people who were suffering through a mental health crisis and more than 7,400 cases that involved substance abuse.
"We view ourselves as a lifesaving organization who values the sanctity of every life. We seek to generate voluntary compliance and use less lethal alternatives to deadly force," Tusken said.
The policy also forbids officers to shoot at a vehicle unless a life is at risk and there is no other reasonable alternative. Tusken noted that shots fired at or from a moving vehicle are rarely effective.
The police department will require officers to report any and all use of force beyond placing a suspect in handcuffs.
"All use-of-force incidents will be reviewed by a supervisor to determine if the force was reasonable, appropriate and within policy," Tusken said.
Problem behaviors will be flagged and tracked, and Tusken said "an early intervention system" will be put in place to track officer use of force and complaints, with training opportunities provided to improve performance.
Tusken stressed that local police resort to the use of force relatively infrequently. He noted that of the 100,766 calls for service the department received in 2019, only 158 involved use of force — that's 0.16%. It's a bit more common among arrests, with 4.5% of the 3,502 arrests in 2019 involving use of force by an officer.
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Duluth police update policies for use of force in wake of George Floyd death - Duluth News Tribune
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