On Friday (Sep. 4), Virginia’s House of Delegates passed multiple bills to prevent deaths like those of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.
According to WAVY 10, a legislation banning neck restraints was passed. It is now a Class 6 felony for police officers to use a neck restraints, much like the one that was used on Floyd, to detain people.
The bill defines neck restraints “as the use of any body part or object to attempt to control or disable a person by applying pressure against the neck, including the trachea or carotid artery, with the purpose, intent, or effect of controlling or restricting the person’s movement or restricting the person’s blood flow or breathing, including chokeholds, carotid restraints, and lateral vascular neck restraints.”
House Bill 5099 will ban “no-knock” search warrants, much like the one used when the Louisville police officers fatally shot Taylor.
House Democrats also made it a felony if a law enforcement officer fails to intervene when a colleague is using deadly force. According to the legislation, law enforcement officers are required to render aid to any person injured from that use of force.
“The bill states that the knowing failure to intervene in the unlawful use of non-deadly force is punishable as a Class 1 misdemeanor and the knowing failure to intervene in the unlawful use of deadly force is punishable as a Class 6 felony,” the proposal reads.
“The bill punishes the knowing failure to intervene in the unlawful use of force that leads to death or if the victim is thereby severely injured and is caused to suffer permanent and significant physical impairment as a Class 4 felony,” it continued.
The legislations will now be sent to the Senate and then to Gov. Ralph Northam. He has to sign the measures before they can become a law.