Mendicino's call for RCMP to ban neck restraint not backed up by evidence: external panel

The federal government's demand that the Mounties ban the use of a controversial neck restraint is not backed up by evidence, says the RCMP's external advisory board.

In a mandate letter issued to then RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki last year, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino instructed her to prohibit "the use of neck restraints in any circumstance." The request is also part of the mandate letter Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued to Mendicino. 

But in a recent letter obtained by CBC News, the RCMP's Management Advisory Board (MAB) — an independent group of experts who provide advice and guidance to the national police force — said the carotid control technique can be justified as an alternative to lethal force in some cases.

"After thorough study and difficult deliberation, the MAB has concluded that the mandate letter commitments against the use of any neck restraint or tear gas are not supported by the available evidence," said the June 20 letter from MAB chair Kent Roach to RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme.

"To formally prohibit their use could have unintended consequences that could increase the use of greater and perhaps even more lethal options."

Lucki promised to review the carotid control technique (CCT) after George Floyd's death in 2020 stirred an international controversy over police use of force. Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering the 46-year-old man after kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

While the carotid control hold is not a chokehold, it involves placing lateral pressure on the carotid arteries in a way that impedes the flow of blood to the brain. It can cause a person to lose consciousness.

The hold doesn't restrict breathing when it's used properly. Its use has been questioned publicly ever since Floyd's death, however, and a number of U.S. police forces have banned the CCT hold.

Earlier this year, the RCMP announced it would continue using the carotid control technique in extreme situations. That set off a war of words with Mendicino.

Roach wrote that MAB received briefings from both the RCMP and Public Safety Canada, including an operational demonstration of the carotid control technique on two of its members.

It also reviewed available medical data and examined Ontario's decision in 1992 to prohibit the use of carotid control techniques after a person died due to acute asphyxia and laryngeal trauma. The board said the effect on that victim was consistent with a chokehold rather than the carotid control technique.

In his letter, Roach points out that RCMP policy limits the use of the carotid hold to those with approved training, and to circumstances involving a subject causing "grievous bodily harm or death, or when the member believes, on reasonable grounds, that the subject will imminently cause grievous bodily harm or death."

The RCMP used the carotid hold 25 times in 2020, 14 times in 2021 and about 14 times in 2022, according to figures sent to the board.

In 20 per cent of instances, the use of the carotid control technique resulted in a person losing consciousness, said the letter, adding that the injury rate with CCT is lower than all other intervention options apart from pepper spray