NEW LAW

California Bans Aggressive Police Chokeholds

New laws forbid officers from putting pressure on people’s windpipes.

California’s governor signed into law a ban on certain aggressive police chokeholds Wednesday. Gavin Newsom approved legislation from the state assembly that prohibits chokeholds that press on a person’s windpipe or cut off blood flow, a technique known as a carotid restraint. The legislation was introduced in the wake of the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers in May. Newsom had ordered police departments in California to stop teaching the holds last year. Other measures signed into law Wednesday require the state attorney general to investigate any case in which an officer kills an unarmed civilian and allow counties to create oversight boards with authority to investigate sheriff’s departments.