L.A. to Pay $35,000 Over Chokehold

The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to pay $35,000 to settle a workers’ compensation claim brought by a police trainee who contended that she suffered a career-ending injury from a prohibited chokehold that was applied to her in training.

Josephine A. Curtin, 38, of Simi Valley said she sustained “injury to her psyche” after being subjected to a bar-arm hold in a self-defense class at the Police Academy on Jan. 10, 1983.

The controversial restraint was banned by Police Chief Daryl F. Gates in 1982 after it was linked to a series of deaths over the years. The hold renders a person unconscious by cutting off the air supply.

Deputy City Atty. Howard Fox said an investigation left it unclear whether the prohibited hold was used on Curtin. But if the hold was used, it was done in error, he said in an interview. Police spokesman Cmdr. William Booth said the bar-arm hold has not been taught at the academy since it was banned by the chief.

Curtin was graduated from the academy and went on to work as a probationary officer but was terminated in March, 1984, a month before completion of probation. She was criticized by superiors for “lacking a commanding presence and speaking too softly,” according to a report by the city attorney recommending the settlement.

“Curtin’s treatment by the Police Department, according to her physician, caused her to have a significant loss of self-confidence” that made it impossible for her to pursue a career as a Los Angeles police officer, the report said.

Another doctor who examined Curtin concluded that she was “totally disabled from all work as a consequence of the physical and psychological trauma sustained,” the city attorney’s report said.

Fox recommended the settlement, saying that the city could be ordered to pay more than $35,000 should the case proceed to a hearing before the state Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. The city previously paid Curtin $15,000 to settle a separate claim alleging damage to her throat from the chokehold.