EP 11 The Safety of the Vascular Neck Restraint in Law Enforcement

The use of the vascular neck restraint by law enforcement officers has been the topic of recent, intense, debate. Special interest groups have equated the use of the vascular neck restraint with ‘near-death’ experiences and have called for outright bans. Policy makers have been very critical of agencies that train and permit the use of the VNR, and some agencies have been influenced by heavy political pressure to discontinue its use. All of this debate has taken place in the absence or ignorance of what the research actually says about the safety of the VNR when applied by officers in the operational setting. In this interview, Dr. Craig Bennell, professor of Psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, where he also serves as Director of Carleton’s Police Research Laboratory, talks about the important findings from research conducted by an incredibly talented cast of international researchers. The paper is titled ‘Safety of Vascular Neck Restraint Applied by Law Enforcement Officers’ and was published in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. Topics covered in this interview regarding the VNR research findings include, the significance and frequency of use of force, the application and consequences of the Vascular Neck Restraint, how many agencies teach the proper use of it, the methodology of the VNR, the effectiveness of its technique, and, of course, the actual empirical safety of the technique. This interview contains practical insights on how agency administrators and trainers should consider the technical, training and political implications of the VNR method and its impact on police training and policy. In addition, in this interview, Dr Bennell strongly exhorts police leaders to use an evidence-based approach to critical decisions that broadly impact officer and public safety. A copy of the paper can be accessed and downloaded at www.trainersbullpen.com