LAPD to Revise Restraining of Violent Suspects

After a series of deaths linked to hogtying, Los Angeles Police Department officials said Thursday that they will change the procedures and equipment to help minimize risks to violent suspects.

After months of study, LAPD officials plan to begin training officers in the next few weeks on the use of a new hobbling device that permits greater freedom of movement for people who are arrested and reduces the danger of sudden death, officials said.

Patrol officers hope to begin using the new device by late next month, after changes in department policies are formally adopted, said Sgt. Mark Conta of the LAPD’s training division.

The strap-like device ties the feet together, but allows an individual to sit up in the patrol car, permitting easier breathing. The current policy allows suspects to be more tightly hogtied and transported while lying on their sides.

News of the change comes as members of the Police Commission scheduled a May 31 review of the department’s progress in revising the practice to make it safer.

Commissioners want to know “where we are, and to make it clear that we are hopeful . . . we can get away from restraining people (in a) way that could put the suspects in jeopardy,” said the panel’s president, Rabbi Gary Greenebaum.

The Times reported Monday that law enforcement hogtying policies are increasingly being challenged and reworked across Los Angeles County after a series of deaths partly linked to the practice, and mounting medical evidence of the method’s potential hazards. Greenebaum said the story partly prompted the request for a progress report on restraint options.

Hogtying--or hobbling in police terms--is typically used against violent, often drug-intoxicated suspects who are difficult to control. It immobilizes an individual by tying the ankles to cuffed hands behind the back, usually with a strap or cord.

Recent medical studies have found that the procedure can interfere with breathing and increase the risk of sudden death, particularly when overweight, excited or drug-intoxicated individuals are placed on their stomachs.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office has partly attributed at least four deaths in less than a year to the technique, helping to fuel potentially costly wrongful death claims and a push by police watchdog groups to restrict use of hogtying. At least two of the recent deaths have led to multimillion-dollar claims against the city of Los Angeles.

Some police agencies--including New York and Pasadena--have banned hogtying, while others have been adjusting their use of the tactic in a variety of ways.

After a $1.1-million jury award to the parents of a man who died after being hogtied by LAPD officers, the department revised its policy in October, 1992, requiring officers to keep hobbled suspects on their side and constantly monitor their breathing.

But in March, 1993, controversy erupted after a Pasadena barber, James Michael Bryant, died after being hobbled by LAPD officers and placed on his stomach in the back seat of a patrol car.

Today, LAPD officers still are permitted to hobble suspects and place them on their sides in the rear seat of a patrol car, a procedure that also has raised concerns. Seattle coroner Donald Reay, who has researched the issue, told The Times that transporting people in that mode also may be dangerous. LAPD had been testing a device--similar to one the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has used for nearly a year--that permits a hobbled suspect to be controlled and transported sitting upright in the rear of the patrol car.

Legs are bound together and held in place by a wide strap that is several feet long. One end of the strap is attached to handcuffs behind an individual’s back. The other end binds the ankles and can be adjusted to pull an individual’s feet tightly behind his back, or loosened to allow him to stand or sit up.

When a person is seated in a patrol car, one end of the strap can be secured in the door jamb to prevent the suspect from thrashing about.

Officials could not explain why the LAPD had not moved more swiftly to change its policies and equipment.

“Why it hasn’t come to fruition isn’t clear,” Police Commissioner Deirdre Hill said. “(It’s) something we need to explore.

“(And) we need to hear from those experts who are identifying this issue as a contributing cause of death, as to how we can solve (it).”

In addition to avoiding unnecessary deaths and ensuring officers’ safety, Hill said, the LAPD must be sensitive about the appearances of the restraint tactics it uses, and the discomfort they may cause. The new hobbling device can allow people to walk to a patrol car, she noted, rather than be carried by officers while bound.

“The community relations issue is one of just as much importance as meeting our (other) objectives sometimes,” she said.

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California called on the Police Commission to initiate a broad review of LAPD hobbling practices, including how frequently the restraint is used and whether it is being removed as soon as possible.

The ACLU also is recommending that paramedics be summoned immediately when officers encounter violent or bizarre-acting suspects who are likely to require use of hobbles, pepper spray and other such tactics.

Frequently, paramedics are not requested until hobbled suspects have gone into cardiac arrest, said Allan Parachini, an ACLU spokesman. “Medical aid (should be) standing by in those situations, as far as practical,” he said. “(It’s) a very prudent thing to call (paramedics) at the start . . . rather than at end of the call when the person is dead.”

Geoffrey Garfield, a spokesman for Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents rank-and-file officers, said the group has not yet taken a position on the proposed changes in hobbling practices.

* CONTRACT VOTE: Police are apparently rejecting the city’s contract. B1