District of Columbia Code Division I. Government of District. § 5-125.01. Findings.

(a) The Council finds that law enforcement officers' use of neck restraints, or any other technique that causes asphyxiation, presents an unnecessary danger to the public and constitutes excessive force.

(b) On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd by applying a neck restraint to Floyd with his knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people across the world, including in the District, took to the streets to peacefully protest injustice, racism, white supremacy, and police brutality against Black people and other people of color. Chauvin was ultimately found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.

(c) Police brutality is abhorrent and antithetical to the District's values. It is the intent of the Council that this subchapter unequivocally strengthen the 1985 ban on the use of neck restraints and other techniques that can cause asphyxiation by law enforcement officers.