Police departments across the country are banning chokeholds and other 'deadly force' techniques in the wake of George Floyd's killing

• Several police departments have banned chokeholds, which a Minneapolis police manual describes as a "deadly force option."
• The state of California has now banned chokeholds, as has the cities of Denver, Dallas, and Minneapolis.
• Outcries against racialized police violence have prompted other responses, too.
• Minneapolis is looking to disband its police department, and several cities are pursuing bans on tear gas and less-lethal rounds.

Two weeks after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, several police departments have banned chokeholds and other violent policing techniques.

On Sunday, the Denver Police Department became the latest to ban chokeholds.

On Tuesday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced at Floyd's funeral that he'd sign an executive order banning police from using chokeholds in the city.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a statewide ban on "carotid holds," a technique that cuts off blood supply and can cause a victim to lose consciousness, on Friday. Before the statewide ban, more than a dozen police agencies in southern California banned the technique.

Also on Friday, the Dallas Police Department banned the technique. It plans to implement a warning-before-shooting policy by June 12.

That same day, the Minneapolis City Council announced it would immediately ban chokeholds, which cut off a victim's air supply. A Minneapolis police manual describes chokeholds as a "deadly force option," the Seattle Times reported. The ban includes neck restraints, a "non-deadly force option" where a police officer applies pressure on a victim's neck with an arm or leg.

The Minneapolis policy requires court approval before it goes into effect. It'd make disciplines against officers who use a chokehold or neck restraint — as well as colleagues who do not stop the officer from using such techniques — enforceable in court.

Prior to the recent wave of bans, chokeholds have been hotly debated in federal courts. In December, a federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled that they are unconstitutional if used on a person who isn't resisting arrest,

The bans come in the wake of massive, predominantly peaceful protests. Demonstrators across the country could be heard chanting, "I can't breathe," a reference to the last words of black men George Floyd and Eric Garner, both of whom died at the hands of police.

Local officials are rolling back police powers

In some cities, the bans go beyond violent restraints.

The Minneapolis City Council is looking to dismantle its police department, saying police reform does not go far enough.

"My assessment of what is now necessary is shaped by the failure of the reforms we've attempted, in the face of opposition from the department and the Police Federation," Councilmember Steve Fletcher wrote in a Time op-ed.

The city council, which has a veto-proof majority in support of disbanding the police, will "recreate systems of public safety that actually keep us safe," said Lisa Bender, president of the city council.

Elsewhere, cities are looking into tear-gas bans, which police have regularly deployed against peaceful protesters in the United States.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan announced a temporary ban on tear gas, effective through July 4.

But after Durkan announced the ban, police were seen firing tear gas into crowds.

In Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, several officials will introduce bans on tear gas, rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades, and bean-bag rounds.

Though rubber bullets and bean-bag rounds are typically referred to as "non-lethal" rounds, a study in BMJ Open, a peer-reviewed journal, found that the rounds can kill.

On Friday, Denver temporarily banned tear gas and less-lethal rounds against protesters.

DC officials will introduce legislation banning tear gas, and Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant said she would introduce legislation banning less-lethal rounds, among other police weaponry.

State representative for Massachusetts Mike Connolly is looking to ban tear gas as well.

• Read more:
• Tear gas is banned from war — but police still shoot it at protesters, who cough and bleed as a result. At least one has lost an eye.
• UN experts slam 'modern-day racial terror lynchings' in the United States, demand immediate reform
• New York Gov. Cuomo falsely said NYPD officers hadn't hit peaceful protesters with batons. Here are the videos.
• Minneapolis City Council members look to disband the police department as schools and other city agencies cut ties with police