AUSTIN, Texas — A unanimous Texas Senate voted Wednesday to ban police officers from using chokeholds during an arrest.
Senate Bill 69 prohibits officers from applying pressure to a person's throat, neck or torso in ways that impede breathing or blood flow unless the action is needed to protect the officers or bystanders from serious injury or death.
State Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, said his bill was in response to statistics showing that at least 134 people nationwide have died in police custody due to asphyxiation in the past decade, including George Floyd, a former Houston resident killed last year when a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for about nine minutes.
"We were all shocked by the last minutes of George Floyd's life," Miles told the Senate.
Miles said SB 69, which next goes to the Texas House, complemented two bills the Senate passed last week on 31-0 votes:
— SB 2212 by state Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, would require police officers to call for immediate medical help if a suspect is injured and to provide first aid — to the extent allowed by their "skill and training" — while waiting for emergency crews to arrive.
— SB 68 by Miles requires police to intervene when they see another officer using excessive force and requires officers who witness excessive force to promptly report it to their supervisor.
Both bills, which also were inspired by Floyd's death, were referred to the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday.
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