The Colorado legislature recently passed Senate Bill 217 which will allow residents to sue individual police officers for civil rights violations.

Following the pubic outcry of accountability for officers who use unnecessary force, this bill will also prevent the use of chokeholds, except in deadly force situations.

Officers will now be required to weary body cams

Officers go through a 40-hour training course when they join the department and go through refresher courses each year, according to the Reporter-Herald.

Loveland Police Department Assistant Chief Ray Butler says a vascular neck restraint  is used to collapse the airflow on both sides of the neck so a person feels like they are going to lose consciousness.

Officers will still be trained the same with the exception of when to use a vascular neck restraint, said Sgt. Pat Musselman, who is in charge of training Loveland’s police officers in use of force techniques.

The restraint has, until now, been used on aggressive suspects. Senate Bill 217 now recognizes it as 'deadly force' that can only be used when a suspect poses an imminent risk of killing or seriously harming the officer or somebody else.

Additionally, the restraint can only be used on people committing felony-level offenses, according to the Reporter-Herald.

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