Officers' actions in Floyd's death not by the book

By Seth W. Stoughton, Jeffrey J. Noble, Geoffrey Alpert / The Washington Post

The video of Minneapolis police officers apprehending George Floyd is horrifying: One planted his knee on Floyd’s neck and apparently suffocated him. The video, like any other source of information, does not tell the whole story. But the fact remains that police actions probably led to Floyd’s death in their custody.

The incident reignites questions about the use of force by police. Officers are trained to manage confrontations professionally and to safeguard the wellbeing of community members, even people they arrest. These lessons should be taught in the academy, then regularly reiterated in ongoing professional training. The officers who arrested Floyd ignored this training, to tragic effect. One of the disturbing things about the video is that it showcases a veritable checklist of specific things officers are taught not to do.


First, the “prone” position Floyd was placed in — face down with his hands behind his back — is intended to be a temporary position to put someone in handcuffs and possibly search for weapons. Being in that position puts weight on the subject’s chest and abdomen, which makes it harder to breathe. For more than 20 years, police have known that “positional” or “compression” asphyxia can occur when someone cannot draw sufficient breath, even if they can breathe enough to gasp or speak. Time in the prone position needs to be kept to a minimum because of the risk of positional asphyxia; which is elevated when the subject is obese, frail or being held down by officers, or has had their breathing compromised by, for example, alcohol, drugs or exposure to pepper spray.

As soon as practical, officers should move the person into a “recovery position” by rolling them onto their side, sitting them up or having them stand. And officers should absolutely do so if the person exhibits signs of medical distress. But Floyd was kept prone with pressure on his neck while handcuffed for almost eight minutes, including almost four minutes after he lost consciousness.

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