Regulating Use of Prone Restraint to Head to Judiciary

Recently, representatives Leslie Herod and Steven Woodrow have presented a bill which is aims at regulating prone restraint used by law enforcement. The law, known as bill HB24-1372, was created by law enforcement stakeholders, and communities that are impacted by this bill.

Primarily, the bill would prohibit officers from using prone restraints as a way to restrict a subject; however they will be allowed to use it in justified cases where physical violence occurs on behalf of the person they are tending to. This law also applies to peace officers and guards in detention centers.

The research has shown that when individuals are put in prone restraints for an elongated period of time, it may cause asphyxiation that may lead to potential death or injury.

Laws like these are really important because they keep officers accountable for their actions. For the past few years, officers have been notorious for abusing their power and being hostile towards minorities and queer folks, which has sparked outrage across both communities. The most troubling case of this was in 2020 with the death of George Floyd, who was both restrained and kneeled on the neck for over eight minutes ultimately causing his passing.

Accountability for this specific field has been neglected for several years now, so being able to see that some will finally happen is something that many of us have been waiting a really long time to see.

Bills like these will finally bring a sense of safety and security into the community by making such actions of force illegal. An alarming amount of officers have been notorious for targeting mostly minorities and queer people with excessive force that has resulted in death or significant injury.

According to this new bill, agencies should adopt these policies on or before July 1, 2026. This has been a long time coming.