Local law enforcement recruits from across North Texas are learning a safer way of restraining individuals that prioritizes the safety of all involved in such interactions.
The technique is designed to reduce injuries. It doesn’t use any chokeholds, joint locks or strikes to de-escalate an individual. It prioritizes free breathing for those being restrained.
About 20 recruits from area agencies are learning the SafeWrap method at the North Central Texas Council of Governments Regional Police Academy in Arlington, including recruits from the University of Texas at Arlington and the Pantego police.
Christy Martinez, the academy’s director, said when the technique was introduced to her and the academy board, they knew it was something they wanted to adopt into their training.
The hope is that using SafeWrap will “reduce liability, officers’ injuries, suspects’ injuries, and bystanders’ injuries,” Martinez said. “The public can see that we were communicating and that we are trying to de-escalate the situation and, more importantly, that we want everybody to go home safely.”
Charlie Fernandez is the director of survival tactics at Gracie University, which is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu academy that offers defense training for law enforcement. Fernandez, who retired from the Arlington police force, said the technique was created for situations in which medical professionals had to restrain a patient. The technique follows specific parameters to leave no room for physical repercussions that could result from joint locks, strikes or neck restraints.
Charlie Fernandez, Director of Gracie Survival Tactics, explains how to conduct the SafeWrap technique.
To employ the method, two officers restrain a person on their side, rather than lying them flat on their stomach. This allows the officers to control the situation more efficiently, medically monitor the individual being restrained and facilitate better communication for de-escalation, Fernandez said.
“Traditionally, those are the tools that officers would use to get somebody to comply,” Fernandez said. “Pain compliance doesn’t work on everybody because not everybody has healthy pain receptors. And also the community expects, rightfully so, the most reasonable possible humane treatment of people getting taken into custody.”
Bedford recruit Eric Brazil said that the techniques help him feel more prepared and confident to enter the police force. “To see that (the police force) is kind of evolving and seeking out better methods and teaching it to us, it makes me feel more comfortable going out on the streets,” Brazil said. “I have the tools to be able to do it in a safer manner.”
Pantego recruit Tyler Rodriguez said he wished he had learned the technique earlier in his training. The maneuver was easy for him and others to learn and emphasized the importance of prioritizing citizens’ safety early in police training, he said.
“I didn’t join to hurt people. I joined to save people and to help people,” Rodriguez said. “I’m sure that goes the same for almost everybody that’s joined this field.”
Bianca Rodriguez-Mora is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at bianca@fortworthreport.org.
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