DHS Updates Use of Force Policy After President Biden’s Executive Order
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) updated its department wide Use of Force Policy for the first time since 2018. It will impact the 80,000 law enforcement officers that serve in DHS’s nine operational law enforcement agencies. The update was required under President Biden’s May 2022 Executive Order to Advance Effective, Accountable Policing and Strengthen Public Safety.
The updated policy meets or exceeds the Department of Justice (DOJ) guidelines on use of force and was drafted after discussions with stakeholders in DHS and national labor organizations. DHS agencies include Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Secret Service, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Our ability to secure the homeland rests on public trust, which is built by accountability, transparency, and effectiveness in our law enforcement practices,” said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The policy states that law enforcement officers can use force “only when no reasonably effective, safe, and feasible alternative appears to exist” and must use a level of force that is “objectively reasonable in light of the facts and circumstances.”
Among the updated policy changes:
· The use of deadly force is prohibited on a person whose actions are only a threat to themselves or property.
· Chokeholds and carotid restraints are prohibited unless deadly force is authorized.
· No-knock warrants are limited to situations where “knocking would create an imminent threat of physical violence to the LEO (law enforcement officer) or another person or only for evidence perseveration in national security matters."
· Wellness resources will be provided for law enforcement officers involved in use of force incidents.
· New requirements on collecting and reporting use of force data.
· Changes to law enforcement training involving the use of deadly force, the duty to intervene, less than lethal force, implicit bias, and de-escalation techniques.
DHS offices and agencies can draft and issue their own individual Use of Force Policies if they meet or exceed requirements set in the updated department-wide policy.
Some organizations that advocate for migrants say the policy doesn’t go far enough, particularly with it not outright banning the use of chokeholds.
“Chokeholds put lives at risk, and this policy still allows that wiggle room,” said Lilian Serrano, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, a human rights group. “They should have been (completely) prohibited.”
But union representatives in the San Diego area say the change is not having a major impact and that many of the new policies were already in place.
“Trainers have been telling us that carotid chokes are not a part of our use-of-force policy for quite a while,” said CBP officer and vice president of National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) Chapter 105 Derrick Arnold.
On a national scale, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) President Larry Cosme spoke in May about President Biden’s executive order, calling it “a step in the right direction.”
FLEOA also applauded the Biden Administration for including provisions for officer wellness and training.
“There has to be an investment in officers and agents,” said President Cosme.